Ray Charles: Last News

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.

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

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?

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.

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.

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.

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.

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).

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.

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.

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.

Rolling Stone has updated its 100 Greatest Singers list from 2008 with its new 200 Greatest Singers Of All Time.And while the roster of artists is extensive and varied, due in part to the change in criteria, there are a few questionable decisions that have outraged fans, but likely none more galvanizing than having Celine Dion left off the list, according to TMZ.Known for her powerful and technically skilled vocals, the Canadian singer, 54, has also amassed more 200 million record sales worldwide, all while winning a slew of accolades and awards over her five decades in the limelight.

Ethan Shanfeld Willie Spence, who came in second place in “American Idol” Season 19, has died in a car crash. He was 23. Spence was driving from Tennessee to his home in Atlanta when he crashed into a semi-truck that was parked on the side of the road. A post on the “American Idol” Instagram reads, “We are devastated about the passing of our beloved ‘American Idol’ family member, Willie Spence. He was a true talent who lit up every room he entered and will be deeply missed. We send our condolences to his loved ones.” The post features a video of Spence singing Rihanna’s “Diamonds” from his “American Idol” audition. Judges Lionel Ritchie, Katy Perry and Luke Bryan praised Spence’s performance, with Bryan saying, “You are a special, special human being. I did not want it to end.”

Art Laboe, a revered Los Angeles radio mainstay for more than half a century who delighted local fans and a syndicated audience by playing those “oldies but goodies,” has died. He was 97.

Chris Willman Senior Music Writer and Chief Music Critic The list of narrators for the audiobook version of Bob Dylan’s upcoming book has come to light, and it reads like a who’s who of Oscar contenders from the past few decades, along with the author himself doing some of the reading. The lineup of voice talent reading chapters from “The Philosophy of Modern Song” aloud includes Jeff Bridges, Steve Buscemi, John Goodman, Oscar Isaac, Helen Mirren, Rita Moreno, Sissy Spacek, Alfre Woodard, Jeffrey Wright and Renée Zellweger. This lineup of all-star Dylan surrogates has yet to be officially announced. It was first published by the U.K. magazine Uncut; Variety has confirmed the list.

Don’t Worry Darling has been released – check it out below.Olivia Wilde’s 1950s sci-fi thriller is released in cinemas today (September 23) and features a period-appropriate soundtrack including artists such as Ray Charles, Little Willie John, The Chords and more.A synopsis for Don’t Worry Darling reads: “In the 1950s, Alice and Jack live in the idealized community of Victory, an experimental company town that houses the men who work on a top-secret project. While the husbands toil away, the wives get to enjoy the beauty, luxury and debauchery of their seemingly perfect paradise.“However, when cracks in her idyllic life begin to appear, exposing flashes of something sinister lurking below the surface, Alice can’t help but question exactly what she’s doing in Victory.”The soundtrack, curated by music editor Bill Bernstein, also features an original song by Harry Styles – who stars as Jack Chambers – performed in the film by Styles and Florence Pugh, who plays his wife Alice.Take a look at the full list of songs here:Don’t Worry Darling also features an original score composed by John Powell, which you can listen to below.In a four-star review of Don’t Worry Darling, NME wrote: “It is, admittedly, quite hard to watch Don’t Worry Darling and not think about the accompanying gossip.“What we’re trying to say is a really quite good film has been overshadowed needlessly.

Jennifer Coolidge has a unique response to getting played off after her first ever Emmy win: breaking into a dance!The 61-year-old actress won her first ever Emmy for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Limited Series or Movie for playing Tanya in HBO's The White Lotus.The flustered actress started getting played off, with the DJ playing Ray Charles' Hit the Road Jack, and instead of leaving the stage, she just started dancing, which brought out a slew of reactions at the Microsoft Theater and on social media. Dance: Jennifer Coolidge has a unique response to getting played off after her first ever Emmy win: breaking into a dance Reaction: The flustered actress started getting played off, with the DJ playing Ray Charles' Hit the Road Jack, and instead of leaving the stage, she just started dancing, which brought out a slew of reactions at the Microsoft Theater and on social mediaCoolidge beat out her White Lotus co-stars Connie Britton, Alexandra Daddario, Natasha Rothwell and Sydney Sweeney, and Dopesick's Kaitlyn Dever and Mare Winningham, though she was clearly not prepared to win.'Thank you! Gosh, what a night! I just want to say to my fellow nominees, just to be in your company, it's incredible,' she began.

Jonathan Cohen For Pearl Jam, it was a long time coming. For 1,500 lucky fans, it was a dream come true. The Seattle Rock and Roll Hall of Famers made good Saturday night (Sept. 10) on a special show nearly two-and-a-half years in the making at the fabled Apollo Theater in Harlem, New York, navigating through a serious technical-related delay five songs into the set that took more than 15 minutes to correct. The concert was broadcast live on Pearl Jam’s long-running SiriusXM channel as part of the network’s Small Stage series, and was open only to subscribers, contest winners and the usual coterie of VIPs. The 21-song performance blended classics such as “Porch,” “Even Flow” and “Better Man” with seven songs from the band’s latest album, “Gigaton,” plus a situation-appropriate dedication to Howard Stern, Robin Quivers and producer Gary Dell’Abate on “Spin the Black Circle.”

Owen Gleiberman Chief Film Critic Olivia Wilde’s “Don’t Worry Darling” is a movie that, in recent weeks, has been besieged and consumed by offscreen dramas, none of which I’ll recount here, except to note that when a film’s lead actress seems actively reluctant to publicize the film in question, that’s a sign of some serious discord. Yet it would be hugely unfair to allow this tempest in a teapot of gossipy turmoil to influence one’s feelings about the movie. If you want to talk about problems related to “Don’t Worry Darling,” you need look no further than at what’s onscreen. The film, written by Katie Silberman, with the brilliant production design of Katie Byron, is a kind of candy-colored “Stepford Wives” in the Twilight Zone meets “The Handmaid’s Tale” for the age of torn-at-the-seams democracy. In theory, this should add up to a juicy watch. Wilde, whose first feature was the witty and vivacious 2019 girls-on-a-bender comedy “Booksmart” (this is her second film), is a gifted director who knows how to set a mood. In “Don’t Worry Darling,” she does that to the max, and for a while you get caught up in it (or, at least, I did). Between the pop ambition, the tasty dream visuals, and the presence of Harry Styles in his first lead role, “Don’t Worry Darling” should have no trouble finding an audience. But the movie takes you on a ride that gets progressively less scintillating as it goes along.

Ray Charles, Van Morrison and Bette Midler was 51 years old.“The love of my life is now in peace with the angels,” wrote Gloria on Instagram on Friday (August 26). “Right now I have very few words.