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☆ Tony Bennett, legendary American singer, dies at age 96
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-21 | by ( Bill Trott | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +7 min

[1/10] Singer Tony Bennett performs during Sinatra 100 - An All-Star Grammy Concert in Las Vegas, Nevada December 2, 2015. The star-studded tribute was held to mark the would be 100th birthday of legendary performer Frank Sinatra on December 12. The comedian was so impressed that he had the singer change his name to Tony Bennett and used him as an opening act. In 2016 a statue of Bennett was unveiled outside San Francisco's Fairmont Hotel, where Bennett first performed the song some 55 years before. "Tony Bennett has not just bridged the generation gap, he has demolished it," the New York Times wrote in 1994.

Persons: Tony Bennett, Sinatra, Frank Sinatra, Steve Marcus, Bennett, Sylvia Weiner, Gaga, Beatle Paul McCartney, Aretha Franklin, Willie Nelson, Bono, Bruce Willis, John Travolta, Danny, Bob Hope, Anthony Dominick Benedetto, Joe Bari, Hope, Hank Williams, Basie, Count Basie, Cole Porter, Johnny Mercer, George, Ira Gershwin, Richard Rodgers, Lorenz Hart, Singer, Harry Belafonte, Martin Luther King Jr, Belafonte, Jesse Jackson, Ralph Sharon, Danny Bennett, Sharon, Lady Gaga, Susan Crow, Patricia Beech, Sandra Grant, Bill Trott, Brendan O'Brien, Diane Craft, Jonathan Oatis, Matthew Lewis Organizations: REUTERS, MTV, Partners, New York's Radio City Music, Columbia Records, Count Basie Orchestra, Twitter, New York Times, Thomson Locations: Las Vegas , Nevada, San Francisco, New York City, New York, Europe, New, Greenwich, Selma , Alabama, Francisco, San, Chicago

☆ A viral clip of Johnny Cash singing 'Barbie Girl' is uncanny and indicative of the internet's latest AI obsession — and its creator wants to incorporate the tech into live performances
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-17 | by ( Hannah Getahun | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Dustin Ballard, who runs the channel, said he wants to take AI covers to the live stage. Dustin Ballard, who runs the channel, told Insider in an email that videos like these take a few days. Finally, I use an AI voice model trained on snippets of the original artist's singing to transform my voice into theirs. "AI voice training is currently not a very user-friendly process, but it's rapidly getting easier," Ballard told Insider. Legal ramifications concerning music and copyright law, are what is driving the debate on AI covers in the music industry.

Persons: Johnny Cash, Dustin Ballard, Greta Gerwig's, Elvis, Sir, Frank Sinatra, Lil Jon, Ballard, It's, Joe Biden, Donald Trump, Spongebob's Patrick belting, Drake, Jered Chavez, it's, Travis Scott, Evan Dhillon Organizations: YouTube, Universal Music Group, Financial, Arpeggi Labs Locations: Folsom, Argentina

CNN —Brazilian singer Astrud Gilberto, who in her 20s recorded “The Girl from Ipanema” and became an international star, has died, according to social media posts from her granddaughter and on behalf of her son. “I just got word from her son Marcelo that we have lost Astrud Gilberto. She later released the critically lauded album “Astrud Gilberto Plus the James Last Orchestra” in 1987. Their duet “Desafinado” was released in 1996, and Gilberto became known for exposing the bossa nova genre to a pop music-loving, mainstream audience. Gilberto released her last album “Jungle” in 2002, and went on to be inducted into the International Latin Music Hall of Fame the same year.

Persons: Astrud Gilberto, “, João Gilberto, Astrud, ” Gilberto’s, Sofia, Paul Ricci, Gilberto, Gilberto’s, Marcelo, ”, Stan Getz, Eartha Kitt, Frank Sinatra, Cher, Amy Winehouse, “ Getz, ” Gilberto, Quincy Jones, Chet Baker, –, Bass, James, George Michael, Desafinado ” Organizations: CNN, James Last Orchestra, Hall of Fame, Latin Recording Academy Locations: Ipanema, Rio de Janeiro, United States

[1/3] People walk along the Ipanema beach following the death of Brazilian singer Astrud Gilberto, in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil June 6, 2023. REUTERS/Pilar OlivaresBRASILIA, June 6 (Reuters) - Brazilian singer Astrud Gilberto, the voice of Bossa Nova whose soft and dreamy version of "The Girl from Ipanema" was an international success in the 1960s, has died at the age of 83, her family said. Astrud performed the vocals in English, including the duet "The Girl from Ipanema" which became the album's major hit. "The Girl from Ipanema" was the first song the 22-year-old Astrud recorded and launched her career almost by accident. She later moved to the United States, where she toured with Getz, singing Bossa Nova and American jazz standards.

Persons: Astrud Gilberto, Pilar Olivares BRASILIA, Gilberto, Sofia Gilberto, Joao Gilberto, Stan Getz, Getz, Astrud, " Getz, Weinert, Antonio Carlos Jobim, Vinicius de Moraes, Steve Van Zandt, Sade, Lana Del Rey, Ivan Lins, Frank Sinatra, Nat King Cole, Madonna, Amy Winehouse, Anthony Boadle, Rosalba O'Brien Organizations: REUTERS, New York, Thomson Locations: Ipanema, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Philadelphia, United States, American, Salvador, Bahia, Brazilian

☆ Where Everybody Knows Your Name
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-30 | by ( Tim Sultan | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

LAST CALL AT COOGAN’S: The Life and Death of a Neighborhood Bar, by Jon Michaud“A friend to me has no race, no class and belongs to no minority,” said Frank Sinatra. “My friendships are formed out of affection, mutual respect and a feeling of having something in common. These are eternal values that cannot be classified.” These words ran through my head as I read “Last Call at Coogan’s,” Jon Michaud’s book about the life and times of a venerated Washington Heights pub that shuttered in 2020. Coogan’s opened in 1985, in northern Manhattan’s heavily Dominican enclave of Washington Heights, at the onset of one epidemic — crack — and closed during another. Simply by being there, Coogan’s changed people’s minds about other cultures.

Persons: Jon Michaud “, ”, Frank Sinatra, ” Jon Michaud’s, Coogan’s, Michaud, Lin, Manuel Miranda, Jim Dwyer, Cool Organizations: New York Times Locations: Coogan’s, Washington, Irish, Mumbai, Manhattan, Manhattan’s, Dominican, Washington Heights

☆ Phil Hartman: 25 years after the actor’s tragic death, his work still resonates
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-28 | by ( Lisa Respers France | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

CNN —Twenty-five years after Phil Hartman’s tragic death, his memorable comedic work still brings joy to audiences. That work included eight seasons on “Saturday Night Live,” where his impressions of Frank Sinatra and President Bill Clinton set a gold standard. (From left) Dennis Miller, Jon Lovitz and Phil Hartman during the 'Weekend Update' segment on "Saturday Night Live" in December 1986. He was the actor [and] entertainer, and then he was the recluse.”“Seeing Phil at The Groundlings was Phil being truly Phil,” she added. In an interview shortly before his death, Hartman reflected on his appreciation for his life and the success he had found.

☆ Michael Kors and Naomi Watts on Fashion and Women’s Health
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-03 | by ( Cody Delistraty | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

“In an industry that is so focused on women, we are not seeing enough women rise in managerial [roles],” said fashion designer Michael Kors to Kristina O’Neill (left) onstage. Photo: Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images for The Wall Street JournalOn Tuesday night, as the sun set over the Hudson River at Spring Studios in downtown Manhattan, the designer and philanthropist Michael Kors and actor and entrepreneur Naomi Watts weighed in on what the future might hold for their industries. The “after hours” edition of The Wall Street Journal’s Future of Everything Festival, hosted in collaboration with WSJ. Magazine, opened with cocktails followed by performances of Stevie Wonder’s “Sir Duke” and Bob Dylan’s “The Times They Are A-Changin’,” sung by students from the Frank Sinatra School of the Arts High School in Queens, New York.

Trump arrived via motorcade at 100 Centre Street, a towering, 1940s-era building faced in limestone, granite, and decades of grime. It's the DA investigators who "book" Trump, a process that begins with the former president emptying his pockets. Prints are run on anyone arrested in New York, and Trump will be no different. No one will check if Trump fibsThe DA investigators will also take Trump's pedigree information — name, date of birth, address, phone number, that sort of thing. "There's a cell in the processing area in the DA investigators' offices," she said.

☆ If Trump's mugshot is made public it would cement him as an 'outlaw' and could make him a folk hero like Al Capone, presidential historian says
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-31 | by ( John Haltiwanger | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

If Trump's mugshot is made public, it could turn him into a folk hero, historian Douglas Brinkley says. New York law generally bars the release of mugshots but it's possible that Trump's could be leaked. During an episode of his YouTube show "Justice Matters" on Thursday, legal analyst Glenn Kirschner suggested that Trump's mugshot "will become publicly available pretty promptly." If the public does get a chance to see the mugshot, it would cement Trump's status as an "outlaw" among presidents and could make him a folk hero for some Americans, Brinkley said. "But Trump fits very easily into a narrative of folk heroes, like outlaw folk heroes like Al Capone and Dillinger, Billy the Kid."

☆ Frank Sinatra musical looking at singer's life and career to open in UK
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-09 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

LONDON, March 9 (Reuters) - A new musical about the life and career of legendary singer and performer Frank Sinatra will open in the British city of Birmingham later this year. "Sinatra The Musical" will debut at the Birmingham Rep on Sept. 23, coinciding with the 70th anniversary of the "Come Fly with Me" and "New York, New York" singer’s UK tour, during which he performed in the city. The musical will look at the impact his affair with actress Ava Gardner had on his career, and how he staged "the greatest comeback in showbiz history". "Growing up, there were two pictures hanging in my grandmother's kitchen -- The Pope and Frank Sinatra. "Sinatra The Musical", which has Olivier and Tony Award-winning director and choreographer Kathleen Marshall at the helm, will run until Oct. 28.

☆ Burt Bacharach, legendary composer of pop songs, dies at 94
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-09 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +10 min

Bacharach was both an innovator and throwback, and his career seemed to run parallel to the rock era. He was an eight-time Grammy winner, a prize-winning Broadway composer for "Promises, Promises" and a three-time Oscar winner. Fellow songwriter Sammy Cahn liked to joke that the smiling, wavy-haired Bacharach was the first composer he ever knew who didn't look like a dentist. Bacharach was essentially a pop composer, but his songs became hits for country artists (Marty Robbins), rhythm and blues performers (Chuck Jackson), soul (Franklin, Luther Vandross) and synth-pop (Naked Eyes). He's everybody's composer ... Burt Bacharach!"

☆ Italian film legend Gina Lollobrigida dies at age 95
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-16 | by ( The Associated Press | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +4 min

ROME (AP) — Italian film legend Gina Lollobrigida, who achieved international stardom during the 1950s and was dubbed “the most beautiful woman in the world” after the title of one of her movies, died in Rome on Monday, her agent said. Lollobrigida also was an accomplished sculptor, painter and photographer, and eventually essentially dropped film for the other arts. Lollobrigida was born on July 4, 1927 in Subiaco, a picturesque hill town near Rome, where her father was a furniture maker. Lollobrigida began her career in beauty contests, posing for the covers of magazines and making brief appearances in minor films. On her website, Lollobrigida recalled how her family lost its house during the bombings of World War II and went to live in Rome.

☆ Gina Lollobrigida, post WWII Italian film diva, dies at 95
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-16 | by ( Philip Pullella | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

ROME, Jan 16 (Reuters) - Italian actress Gina Lollobrigida, a sultry Mediterranean diva who came to represent Italy's vibrant rebirth after World War Two, has died aged 95, her former lawyer said on Monday. "Farewell to a diva of the big screen, protagonist of more than half a century of the Italian film history. Ciao Lollo," Italian culture minister Gennaro Sangiuliano wrote on Twitter. One of her last appearances was a cameo in an Italian film in 2011. In an interview with Reuters in the Rome villa in 2006, she complained about intrusive photographers, saying they were still trying to invade her privacy.

☆ An increasing number of lawsuits are being filed against real estate agents as home prices continue to fall across the US
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-05 | by ( Robert Davis | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Lawsuits against real estate professionals increased 9% between 2021 and 2022 as home prices declined. Zach Vollmer, SVP of Real Estate at Victor Insurance Managers, expects the total to increase in 2023. Vollmer added that lawsuits targeting real estate professionals are common when home prices fall. The increasing frequency of lawsuits coincides with a slew of predictions from real estate experts who expect home prices to continue to decrease in 2023. In most cases, Vollmer said the lawsuits contain allegations that seek to trigger reimbursements under a real estate professional's liability insurance policy.

☆ Ron and Casey DeSantis danced to the governor's campaign song 'Sweet Florida' at the state's inaugural ball, in final event of 2-day 'DeSantis-Palooza'
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-04 | by ( Kimberly Leonard | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

Casey DeSantis wore a gold embellished gown. Songs included "My Girl" and "(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction," two guests leaving the event told Insider. Bill Diamond of Palm Beach told Insider the food was "very good and very inventive" and raved about the lamb. "I have had clients coming back and saying that was very Kennedy-ish," one source who attended multiple inauguration events told Insider. Casey DeSantis and the couple's son, Mason, were also present, he said, as were Lieutenant Governor Jeanette Nuñez and her husband Adrian Nuñez.

This is one of the reasons why Derbez is telling the story of a fictional resort using both English and Spanish. “I was always criticizing movies where I was seeing 007 (referring to the character James Bond) in Brazil and everyone speaks in English,” Derbez, who's also an executive producer of the show, said in an interview with NBC News. And that’s not the way it is.”The same goes for many TV shows being filmed in Mexico, Derbez said, which also show characters speaking only in English. He wants “Acapulco” to stand out by depicting the multilingual reality that he sees and lives in both countries. Episode nine of season two releases Friday on Apple TV+.

☆ Freddie Roman, Catskills comedy scene staple and former Friars Club dean, dies at 85
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-28 | by ( The Associated Press | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +3 min

Comedian Freddie Roman, the former dean of The Friars Club and a staple of the Catskills comedy scene, has died. Roman died Saturday afternoon at Bethesda Hospital in Boynton Beach, Florida, his booking agent and friend Alison Chaplin said Sunday. His uncle and grandfather owned the Crystal Spring Hotel in the Catskills, where Roman started emceeing at age 15. In “Catskills on Broadway,” Roman commented about everything from his childhood in Queens to his “retirement life” in Florida. He was also made Dean of the New York City Friars Club, where he mentored many aspiring comedians and infused the private club with young talent.

Nov 22 (Reuters) - A federal judge has blocked New York from restricting the carrying of guns on private property under a Democratic-backed law adopted following the U.S. Supreme Court's June ruling that struck down the state's strict gun permitting regime. Sinatra ruled in a lawsuit by two firearms owners and two gun rights groups. The Firearms Policy Coalition, one of those groups, called the ruling a "monumental step" toward restoring the gun rights of New Yorkers. "Property owners indeed have the right to exclude," Sinatra wrote. In a court filing, the office of New York Attorney General Letitia James, a Democrat, said it would appeal.

☆ Beyoncé and Jay-Z now tied for most Grammy nominations
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-15 | by ( Lisa Respers France | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +1 min

On Tuesday, Beyoncé tied her husband Jay-Z as the artist with the most career Grammy nominations. Going into Tuesday, the rapper topped the list of all-time Grammy nominations with 83, followed by Sir Paul McCartney with 81, Quincy Jones with 80 and Beyoncé with 79. The superstar also made first-time appearances in a few categories, with “Break My Soul” and “Renaissance” helping her earn her first nominations in the best dance/electronic recording and best dance/electronic music album categories, respectively. With 28 wins to date, Beyoncé is the most-awarded female artist in Grammys history. Should she win four out of the nine she’s nominated for, she will become the most awarded artist of all time, surpassing conductor Sir Georg Solti, who has won 31.

☆ Miami Beach hotel that hosted JFK, Beatles imploded
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-14 | by ( The Associated Press | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +1 min

MIAMI BEACH, Fla. — A once-luxurious Miami Beach hotel that hosted the Beatles and President John F. Kennedy during its 1960s heyday was imploded Sunday after falling into disrepair and abandonment in recent years. The Beatles performed there in 1964, recording six songs for “The Ed Sullivan Show,” drawing an estimated television audience of 70 million people. The Beatles at the Deauville Hotel where they performed for the Ed Sullivan Show in 1964. Miami Beach officials and the family that owned the hotel sparred over millions of dollars in fines for various code violations. City officials say Ross may still be interested in purchasing the lot if an alternate plan can be worked out.

☆ ‘Arthur Miller’ Review: Only Truth for Sale
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-11 | by ( Willard Spiegelman | ) www.wsj.com time to read: +1 min

Growing up in Philadelphia, I had from childhood heard the story about the pre-Broadway opening of “Death of a Salesman” in 1949. The playwright, the 33-year old Arthur Miller, at first didn’t know what to think. A biography is a “life” that re-creates a life. Any individual existence moves forward, but the written version must be assembled retrospectively, from a distance, with whatever wisdom hindsight can provide. His book “Arthur Miller: American Witness” begins with the triumph of “Salesman” before traveling back to the playwright’s Depression-era youth.

☆ Republicans say they're skeptical the party will abandon Trump even after a disappointing midterms performance
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-11 | by ( Oma Seddiq | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Republicans have been publicly criticizing Trump after the party's performance in the midterms. — We've heard this song before," Doug Heye, a veteran GOP strategist, told Insider on Thursday. In important races, Trump backed dozens of Republican candidates who embraced his politics and leaned into his baseless claims about the 2020 election. "And the Republican party's just not in a position to make that bargain." Current frustrations over Trump also don't mean much unless the chorus continues, and at all levels — local, state, and national, strategists say.

Oct 20 (Reuters) - A federal judge on Thursday barred the state of New York, at least for now, from enforcing the part of a closely-watched gun law that bans firearms from churches or other places of worship. read moreNew York legislators quickly passed new rules on gun ownership which Sinatra, in his ruling, called "even more restrictive" than the law struck down by the Supreme Court. "The nation's history does not countenance such an incursion into the right to keep and bear arms across all places of worship across the state," Sinatra wrote. The judge added that, based on the Supreme Court's ruling earlier this year the plaintiffs were likely to succeed on the merits of their lawsuit. The New York Attorney General's Office could not be reached for comment on Thursday evening.

☆ Actor Henry Silva dies at 95
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-17 | by ( ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +7 min

He was the last surviving star of the original Oceans 11 Movie. A 1985 article by Knight-Ridder journalist Diane Haithman headlined “Henry Silva: The Actor You Love to Hate” began this way: “His face looms on screen. The actor starred the next year for Miraglia in “The Falling Man,” in which he played a cop framed for killing a police informer. Silva got even busier in the 1970s, playing tough customers on both sides of the law in movies made in Europe. Silva auditioned for the Actors Studio in 1955; he was one of five students accepted from a field of 2,500 applicants.

☆ Cunoscutul jurnalist american Larry King a decedat
▼ + stars: | 2021-01-23 | by ( Borodin Victoria | ) www.zdg.md time to read: +1 min

Cunoscutul jurnalist american Larry King s-a stins din viață, din cauza complicațiilor date de COVID-19, scrie Mirror. Decesul Larry King în vârstă de 87 de ani vine după mai mulți ani în care a luptat cu probleme de sănătate, inclusiv cancer pulmonar și de prostată. Timp de 25 de ani a prezentat emisiunea „Larry King Live”. Larry King a părăsit CNN în 2010. Ulterior, a lansat emisiunea „Larry King Now”, în 2012, pe ORA TV, un canal pe internet plătit, fiind unul din fondatorii acestuia.

Persons: Larry King, Larry, ., Yasser Arafat, Vladimir Putin, Frank Sinatra, Marlon Brando, Barbra Streisand, Andy Organizations: CNN

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