Ray Charles - celebsbar.com

Jem Aswad Senior Music Editor Bruce Springsteen and Bob Dylan selling their catalogs for $600 million, Genesis and Phil Collins for $300 million, Stevie Nicks for $100 million — over the past few years dozens of artists have sold the rights to their music catalogs for eight or nine figures. There are all kinds of reasons why this is happening: Artists are getting older and are basically estate planning, the pandemic proved that copyrights can be a great investment, and the booming market is bringing more and more buyers and sellers to the table. But what do you do with that catalog once you’ve bought it? The old approach was to basically to sit and wait for the songs to make money — through radio, sales, use in films or TV shows or advertising campaigns, Broadway shows and lots of other ways.

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Beyoncé becomes first Black woman to land US Number One country album with ‘Cowboy Carter’

Beyoncé has become the first Black woman to score a Number One country album with ‘Cowboy Carter’ in the US charts.The music icon’s new country-inspired album has topped Billboard’s Top Country Albums, making history in the process as the first Black woman ever to do so, as revealed yesterday (April 7).The new record also debuted at Number One, her eighth album to top the Billboard 200 charts.Billboard revealed that, at 407,000 units, ‘Cowboy Carter’ claimed the biggest week of 2024 so far and the largest since Taylor Swift’s ‘1989 (Taylor’s Version)’ reached 1.653 million units on the November 11, 2023 list back in October.‘Cowboy Carter’ also scored other achievements including Beyoncé’s biggest week by units since ‘Lemonade’ debuted at Number One with 653,000 units in 2016.The achievement follows a similar feat back in February when Beyoncé became the first Black woman to reach Number One on the US country chart with her new single ‘Texas Hold ‘Em’.She also became the second solo female act – with no accompanying featured artists – to debut at Number One, with Swift achieving this in 2021 with her re-recorded versions of ‘Love Story’ and ‘All Too Well’.Additionally, Beyoncé was announced as the first woman to top both the Hot Country Songs and Hot R&B/Hip-Hip Songs charts since these run-downs began in 1958.

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Beyoncé’s ‘Texas Hold ‘Em’ Becomes Her Ninth Solo No. 1 With Strong Radio Presence

Thania Garcia Just one week after Beyoncé became the first Black woman to lead Billboard’s Hot Country Songs chart with her twangy “Texas Hold ‘Em,” the single now reigns over the publication’s all-genre-inclusive Hot 100 songs list. “Texas Hold ‘Em,” along with the single “16 Carriages,” was released during the Super Bowl and later debuted on the Hot 100 at No. 2.

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20 Artists Who Crossed Over to Country (and How They Fared): Beyoncé, Ray Charles, Tina Turner, Bon Jovi and More

Chris Willman Senior Music Writer and Chief Music Critic Beyoncé is part of a great tradition of artists from the pop, R&B and rock worlds stepping into the realm of country music, whether it’s for one record or, in occasional instances, a whole career shift. Of course, none of her predecessors made immediate international headlines by releasing a country single, the way Bey did with “Texas Hold ‘Em” (and its companion song, “16 Carriages”).

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Beyoncé becomes first Black woman to hit Number One on US country chart

Beyoncé has become the first Black woman to reach Number One on the US country chart with her new single ‘Texas Hold ‘Em’.The singer released the song earlier this month when announcing her eighth studio album ‘Renaissance Act II’, which is due to arrive on March 29. She also shared the track ’16 Carriages’ from the upcoming record.Now, ‘Texas Hold ‘Em’ has topped Billboard’s Hot Country Songs chart – making Bey the first Black female artist to achieve this feat.She is also the second solo female act – with no accompanying featured artists – to debut at Number One, with Taylor Swift achieving this in 2021 with her re-recorded versions of ‘Love Story’ and ‘All Too Well’.Additionally, Beyoncé is the first woman to top both the Hot Country Songs and Hot R&B/Hip-Hip Songs charts since these run-downs began in 1958.

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Beyoncé Becomes First Black Woman To Top Country Music Chart With Her Single “Texas Hold ‘Em”

Beyoncé continues to break barriers.

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Kanye West and Ty Dolla $ign Lead Billboard 200 With Controversial Album ‘Vultures’; Beyoncé Tops Country Chart With ‘Texas Hold ‘Em’

Thania Garcia Kanye West and Ty Dolla $ign’s “Vultures” is the No. 1 album in the United States this week despite the 16-song set getting major pushback from streaming platforms for West’s antisemitic behavior. The album was temporarily removed from streaming services just a few days after its release on Feb.

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Half of Michael Jackson’s music catalog bought by Sony Music for $600M

according to Billboard.The deal would also be the biggest ever for the work of a single musician, the BBC reported.Jackson, who died in 2009, remains immensely popular on music streaming services like Spotify, where he averages 40 million monthly listeners.Just two of his countless hits, “Billie Jean” and “Beat It,” have each been played more than one billion times on Spotify alone, according to the BBC.The deal comes just as an upcoming biopic about Jackson’s life and career starring his nephew is set to hit the big screen next year.The deal also reportedly includes tracks by other artists that had been acquired by Jackson’s Mijac publishing group — including hit songs by Ray Charles, Elvis Presley and Aretha Franklin, the BBC reported.The Jackson deal is as big or bigger than the $1.2 billion deal sought by Queen, which includes royalties for streams and other uses like the Freddy Mercury biopic “Bohemian Rhapsody” and theatrical productions, according to Billboard.Sony’s deal with Jackson’s estate does not include royalties from the Broadway play and other theatrical productions featuring his music, the outlet reported.Sony paid $100 million in 1991 to buy the first half of what became Sony/ATV— ATV being the catalog that Jackson purchased in 1985 that included the Beatles catalog, according to Billboard.

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Usher weighs in on ‘nervous’ Jay-Z defending Beyonce at the Grammys

Jay-Z has got the nerves bad.In fact, the 45-year-old pop superstar — who was recruited by Jay-Z and his Roc Nation company to headline the Super Bowl LVIII halftime show on Sunday — defended the 54-year-old rapper for his tense takedown of the Grammys on music’s biggest night last Sunday.“I think I like a nervous Jay-Z more than anything. That’s what it told me,” Usher told The Post about the hip-hop mogul’s speech when he was accepting the Dr.

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How ‘We Are the World’ created ‘The Greatest Night in Pop’ 4 decades ago

“We Are the World,” the historic 1985 charity single — where even Bob Dylan was intimidated by the star-studded session.Surrounded by everyone from Ray Charles, Diana Ross and Paul Simon to Tina Turner, Willie Nelson and Billy Joel, the Bard was clearly out of sorts — and out of his element.But it took one particular legend to help another one find his solo mojo.“The secret agent to help him get comfortable was Stevie Wonder,” says David Breskin — one of two journalists invited by producer Quincy Jones to cover the momentous occasion — in the documentary. “Stevie is an insanely great mimic,” continues Breskin, explaining how the R&B master used his special talents to help the folk god: “Stevie sang it ventriloquially in Dylan’s voice.”It’s a dead-on impression that impresses even Dylan, who — in the only time the room is cleared to give one artist his space — finally nails his part.Such is the spirit of unity that — against all odds and egos — pulled together the recording of “We Are the World” on Jan.

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Sundance: Director Bao Nguyen On ‘We Are The World’ Docu, Lionel Ritchie Karaoke, Prince’s Guitar & Return To Park City

“I didn’t really know much about the making of the song,” admits The Greatest Night in Pop director Bao Nguyen of 1985’s star-studded Ethiopian famine relief hit “We Are the World.” “You just make these assumptions about how things are made because it just happens. But when you think now of 46 great artists getting together to make that, it would be really impossible for that to happen now.”

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Quincy Jones Remembers Working With Michael Jackson, Frank Sinatra, and More Ahead of His 90th Birthday Celebration: ‘No One Could’ve Imagined the Heights We Reached’

Todd Gilchrist editor At 90, Quincy Jones has accomplished enough for a dozen lifetimes. As a songwriter, composer, performer and producer, he’s collaborated with (and created) some of the biggest acts of all time, from Ray Charles to Frank Sinatra to Michael Jackson.

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Get to Know Chicago P.D.'s LaRoyce Hawkins with These 10 Fun Facts! (Exclusive)

We got a chance to catch up with Chicago P.D.‘s LaRoyce Hawkins!

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‘Wham!’ Review: Chris Smith’s Netflix Doc Is an Irresistible Pop Nostalgia Trip, but It’s Also a Serious Portrait of George Michael’s Ambition

Owen Gleiberman Chief Film Critic Unabashed pop groups with fervid teenage followings tend to get trivialized, at least in the media. They’re dismissed as being slick and calculated and superficial. But there’s a story in “Wham!,” the new Netflix documentary about the quintessential pop duo of the 1980s, that testifies to what a chancy and audacious artist George Michael was even back in his teen-idol days. The year is 1983. Michael and Andrew Ridgeley, coming off their first album, “Fantastic” (which had a few hits, though none of them were great), have established Wham! as an effective lightweight pop machine, with its two young stars prancing around the stage in sexy sportswear. The time has come to record “Careless Whisper,” a song they’ve had in their back pocket for several years (we hear the super-early demo version of it that they recorded in 1981 in Ridgeley’s living room on a TEAC 4-track Portastudio). Michael has become enough of a powerhouse to hook up with Jerry Wexler, the legendary producer of Aretha Franklin and Ray Charles. He heads down to Muscle Shoals Sound Studio to record the track, with Wexler producing. What more could a 20-year-old budding pop star want?

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Connecticut Declares April 23 ‘Little Richard Day’ in Honor of New Documentary (EXCLUSIVE)

Brent Lang Executive Editor Connecticut is set to declare Sunday, April 23, 2023 as “Little Richard Day” in honor of the late performer’s “incomparable contributions to the history of music in America.” And no, the rock n’ roll icon doesn’t hail from the Nutmeg state. He was born in Georgia and lived in California, Tennessee and other ports of call until his death in 2020. Rather, Gov. Ned Lamont is issuing the proclamation in recognition of the release this month of “Little Richard: I Am Everything” and Connecticut’s many ties to the production. The film, which Magnolia bought out of the Sundance Film Festival, will premiere at the Bedford Playhouse, which is hosted by the Greenwich International Film Festival on April 23. It was produced by Greenwich International Film Festival board member Robert Friedman and produced and directed by Lisa Cortés, a Connecticut native and an alumna of Yale University.

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Sarah McLachlan Sells Majority Stake in Catalogs to Primary Wave (EXCLUSIVE)

Jem Aswad Senior Music Editor Primary Wave Music has struck a partnership with multiple Grammy and Juno Award-winning Canadian singer-songwriter Sarah McLachlan that sees the company acquiring a majority stake in her songwriting and recorded-music catalog. Further terms of the deal were not disclosed, but it includes such hits as “Angel,” “I Will Remember You,” “Hold On,” and more. Following the success of her 1993 breakthrough album, “Fumbling Towards Ecstasy,” the singer has sold more than 40 million albums worldwide, received three Grammy Awards and twelve Juno Awards and has been inducted into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame.

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Los Angeles’ United Recording Studios, Known as ‘the Abbey Road of the West,’ Scales Down Music Operations

Lily Moayeri After more than 65 years, Los Angeles’ legendary United Recording Studios, where Elvis Presley, Frank Sinatra, Ray Charles, as well as the Beach Boys, Sam Cooke, Jay-Z, Green Day, and more recently, Paramore and Kendrick Lamar have recorded, is retooling its operations — to the detriment of its storied history as “the Abbey Road of the West,” not to mention its employees. Starting April 3, the studio will require “longer minimum booking lengths for recording sessions,” according to Mix Magazine — although this minimum has yet to be determined. Furthermore, artists will need to bring in their own engineers to run United Recordings’ rare vintage equipment, some of which dates to the studio’s beginnings in the late ‘50s. This renowned gear requires expertise that isn’t readily available to the current-day audio engineering school graduates who don’t have the benefit of the studio’s longtime professionals.

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Norah Jones announces 2023 UK and Ireland tour

Norah Jones has announced that she will be heading on a tour of the UK and Ireland this autumn.The singer-songwriter previously announced a summer tour in Europe, which is due to start this July in Paris and includes dates in Italy, Spain, Portugal and more.The UK and Ireland leg of the tour kicks off at Sage Gateshead on November 4, before heading to Birmingham, Manchester, Glasgow, Bath, Belfast and Dublin. Jones will also headline London’s Palladium on November 11.Tickets for the tour will be on sale this Friday, March 24 at 10am.

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Courtney Love Slams Rock & Roll Hall of Fame for Lack of Female Inductees, Saying it ‘Reeks of Sexist Gatekeeping’

Julia MacCary editor Courtney Love has taken aim at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, penning a scathing essay that calls out the dearth of women and Black artists showcased in the Cleveland-based organization. “If so few women are being inducted into the Rock Hall, then the nominating committee is broken,” Love wrote in an op-ed for the Guardian. “If so few Black artists, so few women of colour, are being inducted, then the voting process needs to be overhauled. Music is a lifeforce that is constantly evolving – and they can’t keep up. Shame on HBO for propping up this farce.” Love did not hold back when calling out the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. “Barely 8% of its inductees are female. The canon-making doesn’t just reek of sexist gatekeeping, but also purposeful ignorance and hostility,” wrote Love, a musician, songwriter and actor who led the 1990s band Hole and was married to the late Nirvana frontman Kurt Cobain (who was posthumously inducted).

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New ‘Midnight Special’ YouTube Channel Resurrects Iconic ’70s Performances Of David Bowie, Tina Turner, Elton John And Many Others

The Midnight Special, the once hugely popular music program that featured such now legendary performers of the 1970s and early ’80s as David Bowie, Tina Turner, Elton John and too many others to list, is now available to watch on YouTube.

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Guild of Music Supervisors Awards to Honor Paul Williams (EXCLUSIVE)

Thania Garcia Lyricist and composer Paul Williams will be honored by the 13th annual Guild of Music Supervisors awards with the 2023 Icon award at the Wiltern Theatre in Los Angeles on March 5. The awards show will also be posthumously honoring former Sony Pictures Entertainment senior VP and music supervisor, Pilar McCurry. Williams’ standards have been recorded by such decorated artists as Ray Charles, David Bowie, Barbra Streisand, Tony Bennett, Diana Ross, the Carpenters, Elvis Presley, Frank Sinatra, Ella Fitzgerald, Luther Vandross and Willie Nelson, among others. He’s previously been recognized with six Oscars, nine Grammys, six Golden Globes, and two Emmy nominations.

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Tahar Rahim to Play French Music Legend Charles Aznavour in Biopic ‘Monsieur Aznavour’ (EXCLUSIVE)

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent Tahar Rahim, who earned BAFTA and Golden Globe nominations for his starring roles in “A Prophet” and “The Mauritanian,” is set to play Charles Aznavour, the iconic French-Armenian singer, songwriter and actor who sold more than 180 million records around the world. Titled “Monsieur Aznavour,” the biopic will be directed by singer-turned-filmmakers Mehdi Idir and Grand Corps Malade (“Patients”), and produced by Jean-Rachid Kallouche’s Kallouche Cinema and Mandarin & Compagnie, the banner behind Francois Ozon’s and Anne Fontaine’s films. Kallouche, who teamed with Eric and Nicolas Altmayer at Mandarin on Grand Corps Malade and Idir’s previous films, is married to Katia Aznavour, the daughter of the late artist. Filming will kick off in the summer for an estimated delivery in 2024, to mark Aznavour’s centenary.

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Ray Charles: Last News

Beyoncé becomes first Black woman to land US Number One country album with ‘Cowboy Carter’

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