Mary Wilson, longest-reigning original Supreme, dies at 76Video
LAS VEGAS — Mary Wilson, the longest-reigning original Supreme, has died at 76 years old. Wilson died Monday night at her home in Las Vegas and the cause was not immediately clear, said publicist Jay Schwartz. Wilson, Diana Ross and Florence Ballard made up the first successful configuration of The...
Pittsburgh’s Jimmy Sapienza, front-man of Five Guys Named Moe, dies at 71
Pittsburgh singer Jimmy Sapienza – front-man of Jimmy Sapienza and Five Guys Named Moe – died Saturday, Feb. 6, 2021. He was 71. “It is with the deepest regret to share with all of you that my husband Jimmy Sapienza unexpectedly passed away this afternoon with immediate family,” his wife,...
Pittsburgh’s Aris Paul Band wins national honor for best rock actVideo
Pittsburgh musician Aris Paul delved deep into family history for his song, “Better Man’s Shoes,” and ended up winning a national award for his band. The Aris Paul Band received best rock song honors in the recent Hollywood Music in Media Awards. “I had no expectations,” Paul said. “I was...
Folk singer-songwriter and political activist Anne Feeney dies at 69
A fierce activist who lent her voice and music to a range of grassroots causes — a self-described “hellraiser” and “troublemaker” — Anne Feeney spent decades turning the push for social justice into lyrics. “Anne, like a laser, would identify these issues and help people understand these in a very...
Singer Morgan Wallen suspended from label after racial slur
Country star Morgan Wallen has been suspended indefinitely from his label after a video surfaced of him shouting a racial slur and radio stations have removed his music from their playlists. Big Loud Records said in a statement posted to social media on Wednesday that Wallen’s contract has been suspended...
Pittsburgh Opera’s free February livestreams offer timely themes
Pittsburgh Opera will offer two timely programs during February. Six resident artists will perform in “Songs from the Heart: A Valentine from Pittsburgh Opera,” streaming free at 5:30 p.m. Feb. 14 on the opera’s YouTube channel and Facebook page. Making for an even sweeter experience, viewers can order a five-piece...
The Weeknd coming to Pittsburgh in 2022 with ‘The After Hours Tour’ rescheduledVideo
The Weeknd is still coming to Pittsburgh, just not this year. The Canadian singer announced Wednesday new dates for “The After Hours Tour,” originally set to take place in 2020 and then rescheduled for 2021. The tour will now begin in January 2022, with a stop at PPG Paints Arena...
High school musical season is again up in the air as pandemic continuesVideo
To stage or not to stage, that is the question for area high schools as musical season approaches. As many productions fell prey last year to the pandemic, school personnel and students didn’t think they would be facing the same challenge this year. But they are. With gathering size and...
Tony Bennett reveals battle with Alzheimer’s disease
NEW YORK — Tony Bennett has been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease but it hasn’t quieted his legendary voice. The singer’s wife and son reveal in the latest edition of AARP The Magazine that Bennett was first diagnosed with the irreversible neurological disorder in 2016. The magazine says he endures “increasingly...
Rod Stewart lawyer: Plea deal in works in hotel altercation
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — Rod Stewart and his son have worked out details for a plea deal to settle misdemeanor battery charges stemming from an altercation with a security guard at a posh Florida hotel, a lawyer for the rock icon says. Defense attorneys said Friday that Stewart and...
Sophie, Grammy-nominated Scottish musician, dies at age 34
LONDON — Sophie, the Grammy-nominated Scottish disc jockey, producer and recording artist who had worked with the likes of Madonna and Charli XCX, has died following an accident in the Greek capital of Athens. She was 34. In a statement, U.K. label Transgressive said the musician, whose full name was...
Westmoreland-based Derek Woods Band wins national music awardVideo
“I really didn’t see that coming,” said musician Derek Woods about winning an award at Wednesday’s Hollywood Music in Media Awards. The Westmoreland-based Derek Woods Band took honors for Americana/Folk/Singer Songwriter Song of the Year for “Unforgiving Tree” during a livestreamed program that Woods and his band mates watched from...
Pittsburgh to honor local jazz musicians virtually for Black History Month
Pittsburgh jazz legend Roger Humphries marches to his own beat. The musician from Pittsburgh’s North Side began playing the drums at the age of 3. He wanted to be like his older brothers. “Music is in my blood,” said Humphries, who turns 77 on Saturday. “I recall lying on the...
How the Flaming Lips pulled off covid-distancing space bubble showsVideo
The Flaming Lips pulled off their first full-length space bubble concerts this past weekend in Oklahoma City, with both the band and audience members sequestered in their own zip-up bubbles. The band performed a couple of sold-out shows in promotion of its 2020 album “American Head,” featuring 100 inflatable audience...
Things to do in Western Pa.
Looking for some home renovation or decor ideas? Head down to the Washington County Fairgrounds for the annual Washington County Home Show. Have a short story idea rattling around your head? It might be a fit for Parsec Ink’s annual speculative fiction writing contest. Wondering how writers for the “The...
Gabby Barrett welcomes baby girl
Pittsburgh’s celebrity songstress is a new mom. “American Idol” alum and Munhall native Gabby Barrett and husband Cade Foehner welcomed their first child, a baby girl named Baylah May, on Jan. 18. Barrett, 20, updated her fans with the big news in various social media posts including a Twitter post...
Pittsburgh musicians lift their voices for virtual concerts to save local stages
There will be an encore to the single released earlier this month. Western Pennsylvania musicians recorded “SOS 2020,” a song inspired by the Save Our Stages movement to help struggling music venues. It’s a mixture of rock, punk and heavy metal. Next up on the playlist will be a concert...
Westmoreland symphony’s next livestream to feature Cleveland cellistVideo
There is certainly no love lost between Pittsburgh and Cleveland’s football teams. But unless he tries a dirty tackle on the conductor, no one is likely to boo cellist Mark Kosower, even if he does hail from the Browns’ hometown. Kosower, principal cello for the Cleveland Orchestra, will be the...
The Palace Theatre’s VIP livestream concerts showcase local, original music
For Lindsay Dragan, the best part of being a musician is playing in front of a crowd. “That’s when I feel most alive,” she said. There hasn’t been much opportunity for that in the past year, but Dragan and her Pittsburgh-based band at least will be able to get onstage...
City Theatre films singer Jill Sobule’s tale of middle-school angst
Middle school is a tough gig — just ask singer/songwriter Jill Sobule. She poured her experiences into a musical called “F*ck7thGrade” that was presented in its initial form in Pittsburgh at City Theatre Company’s 2018 Momentum Festival of New Plays. Now, City Theatre will premiere a concert film of the...
Jazmine Sullivan, Eric Church, H.E.R. to sing at Super Bowl
NEW YORK — R&B star Jazmine Sullivan and country singer Eric Church will join forces to sing the national anthem at the next month’s Super Bowl, where Grammy-winning singer H.E.R. will perform “America the Beautiful.” The performances will take place Feb. 7 at the Raymond James Stadium in Tampa before...
NASCAR to hold pre-race Daytona 500 concert with Luke Combs
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — NASCAR will attempt some normalcy at the season-opening Daytona 500 with a live pre-race concert — the first big performance at a track during the pandemic — featuring country music star Luke Combs. Combs, who performed virtually for NASCAR’s season finale in November, has not done a...
Heavy metal guitarist photographed at Capitol riot charged
INDIANAPOLIS — A heavy metal guitarist who was photographed with the mob that stormed the U.S. Capitol and is accused of spraying police officers with a pepper-based bear spray irritant has been arrested, the FBI said. Jon Ryan Schaffer turned himself in Sunday after he was featured on an FBI...
Garth Brooks joins lineup of entertainers at Biden inaugural
Add Garth Brooks to the lineup of entertainers at the inauguration of President-elect Joe Biden. “This is a great day in our household,” the country music superstar said during a virtual press conference Monday, two days before Biden is to be sworn in. “This is not a political statement. This...
Phil Spector, famed music producer and murderer, dies at 81
LOS ANGELES — Phil Spector, the eccentric and revolutionary music producer who transformed rock music with his “Wall of Sound” method and who later was convicted of murder, has died. He was 81. California state prison officials said he died Saturday of natural causes at a hospital. Spector was convicted...
