McCartney rolls back years as Glastonbury enters final day

LONDON -- US rapper Kendrick Lamar will bring the curtain down on Britain's Glastonbury Festival on Sunday, after Paul McCartney ran through a set of Beatles classics, helped out by Bruce Springsteen and Dave Grohl.

McCartney, who turned 80 last week, on Saturday became the oldest main stage headliner of all time, and was joined by Springsteen for "I Wanna Be Your Man," while former Nirvana man Grohl came on for "I Saw Her Standing There."

The 100,000 strong crowd at the dairy farm in southwest England serenaded McCartney onto the stage with "Happy Birthday," and were treated to timeless classics including "Can't Buy Me Love," "Love Me Do," "Blackbird," "Helter Skelter," "Let It Be," and "Hey Jude."

The Sunday Telegraph called it "one of the most thrilling, uplifting, banger-filled" Glastonbury performances, giving it five stars.

"A huge crowd of all ages spread in front of the mystically glowing Pyramid stage. Flags waved, flares blazed, voices were raised in song. The world hasn't exactly been a vision of peace and love lately, but here was the Fab One to put things right," it said.

In a four-star review, the Observer said that "the occasional lulls" in the first part of the three-hour set "rather potentiates what happens afterwards, when McCartney starts to pull out all the stops."

"There's something incredibly charming about seeing the puppyish delight on the face of Springsteen... as he and McCartney trade lines," it added.

Zelensky appears

The singer-songwriter also performed a duet with his late musical partner John Lennon, whose image was projected on a giant screen, on a version of "I Got A Feeling."

The coronavirus pandemic forced organizers to cancel the last two years' events, and those going this year battled three days of major rail strikes across the country to get there.

Doors opened at Worthy Farm in Somerset, southwest England, on Wednesday, with US pop star Billie Eilish, 20, on Friday becoming the youngest ever main stage headline act.

Other big-name performers on the bill include soul legend Diana Ross, Led Zeppelin frontman Robert Plant, New Zealand singer-songwriter Lorde and electro-pop duo Pet Shop Boys.

Meanwhile, Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky put in an appearance on Friday, urging revelers by big screen to band together to try to stop the conflict with Russia.

Dairy farmer Michael Eavis first organized the festival in 1970, the day after Jimi Hendrix died, and fans who came to see acts including Marc Bolan and Al Stewart paid £1 each for entry and received free milk from the farm.

The festival was held intermittently in the 1970s and it wasn't until the 1990s that it really began to acquire its current status.

Glastonbury was due to celebrate its 50th anniversary in 2020, but those plans were put on hold by the pandemic.

Integral to the festival's development was the late Arabella Churchill, granddaughter of Winston Churchill, who set up and then ran the Theatre and Circus fields.

As a result, the festival developed a diverse reputation and the 360-hectare site now encompasses various thematic areas.

Agence France-Press

Beatles classic 'Abbey Road' tops charts again after 50 years

LONDON - Classic Beatles album "Abbey Road" is back at number one in Britain half a century after its first release, with the band breaking their own record for the longest gap between stints at the top of the charts.

The band's final studio album with its instantly recognizable zebra-crossing cover came out in September 1969, 6 days after John Lennon told his bandmates he was leaving the group.

It was the UK's best-selling album for 17 weeks, and on Friday a special 50th-anniversary edition featuring unheard material took the top spot once again.

"It's hard to believe that Abbey Road still holds up after all these years. But then again it's a bloody cool album," tweeted band member Paul McCartney.

With 49 years and 252 days since its last reign, the album has had the longest gap between UK number ones -- a record previously held by the Fab Four's "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band."

Two years ago, a 50th anniversary edition of "Sgt. Pepper," which Rolling Stone magazine has named the greatest album of all time, topped the charts again after 49 years and 125 days.

Last month, hundreds of Beatles fans mobbed the street outside Abbey Road Studios in northwest London to celebrate five decades since the band were snapped at the pedestrian crossing there.

The photograph of Lennon leading Ringo Starr, McCartney and George Harrison over the road in single file became an all-time classic when it appeared on the "Abbey Road" sleeve, which unusually did not feature the name of the band or the record.

The album, which features songs including "Come Together" and "Here Comes the Sun," was also the week's best-selling vinyl, shifting around 9,000 physical copies.

source: news.abs-cbn.com

Coming together

A fan carries a copy of the album "Abbey Road" on Thursday as he crosses the Abbey Road zebra crossing on the 50th anniversary of The Beatles doing it for their album cover in St Johns Wood in London. "Abbey Road," which was voted the best Beatles album by readers of Rolling Stone in 2009, was the only one of the group's original British albums to show neither the band's name nor a title on the cover.

source: news.abs-cbn.com

John Lennon's killer recalls inner 'tug of war' before the murder

NEW YORK - Before he pulled the trigger that ended the life of rock icon John Lennon nearly 38 years ago, his killer remembers being in a "tug of war" with himself over what he was about to do, and even praying for a way out of carrying out his plan.

In the end, the compulsion to gain notoriety by killing one of the most famous people in the world proved too powerful, a remorseful Mark David Chapman told parole officials at an Aug. 22 hearing that ended in a decision not to release him.

"I was too far in," Chapman, 63, said in a transcript of the hearing released on Thursday by the New York Department of Corrections and Community Supervision.

On the afternoon of Dec. 8, 1980, the former member of the Beatles left his New York apartment building on his way to a recording session when he stopped to autograph an album that Chapman, then a pudgy, bespectacled 25-year-old, was holding. It is a moment captured in a now-eerie photograph.

"I do remember having the thought of, hey, you have got the album now, look at this, he signed it, just go home, but there was no way I was going to go home," Chapman, now leaner and grayer, told the parole board.

But when Lennon returned to his home on Manhattan's Upper West Side later that evening, Chapman was waiting for him, and fired a 5-shot .38 caliber Charter Arms revolver at him, hitting him 4 times in front of his wife Yoko Ono.

The assassination-style murder stunned the music world, a generation that had grown up with "Beatlemania" and the city the British-born musician had adopted as his home.

From his confinement at the Wende Correctional Facility in Alden, New York, just east of Buffalo, Chapman told the 2 parole board members at his hearing his sense of shame grows constantly over the murder, the impact of which he realizes will outlive him.

"A hundred years from now they're going to remember him and they're going to remember him as someone that's been murdered and it's going to be negative," he said.

Chapman was sentenced to 20 years to life after pleading guilty to second-degree murder in 1981. He has been denied parole 10 times since 2000 and will not have another opportunity for release until August 2020.

At the hearing, Chapman said he was a changed man who would welcome being released but said he didn't deserve it.

He denied a suggestion by a parole board member that he had channeled his obsession with fame into a ministry he runs with his wife that supplies Christian pamphlets to churches in Africa.

"I honestly have to disagree with that," he said. "We're sustaining Jesus."

source: news.abs-cbn.com

Paul McCartney returns to Beatles' Liverpool club for surprise gig

LIVERPOOL - Paul McCartney surprised and delighted fans on Thursday with a small free gig at The Cavern Club, returning to the cellar venue in Liverpool where The Beatles made their name more than 50 years ago.

In scenes reminiscent of the 1960s, the 76-year-old, was greeted by cheering and some screaming fans as he arrived at the club by car. Many had waited for hours to get a limited number of tickets after the singer and musician had posted a Tweet hours earlier announcing the gig.

McCartney, whose latest album "Egypt Station" comes out in September, played a wide-ranging set list including Beatles hits "Magical Mystery Tour" and "I Saw Her Standing There", which got the loudest cheers from the audience.

"Hello Liverpool. Cavern," he told the cheering crowd as he came on stage.

The Beatles first played at the Cavern - a cramped cellar bar in the northern English port city - in 1961. The band went on to become a global phenomenon before splitting up in 1970.

Surrounded by Beatles pictures and murals, McCartney, who usually plays to vast arenas, sang and chatted to the audience during the two-hour gig at the packed club, which has a capacity for 350 standing people. They sang along with him.

"Imagine this for me...All those years ago we came here and played. We didn't know if we'd ever have any future but we did okay," he said. "Coming back here with all of our guys, all of our crew it's pretty pretty amazing for me."

The original Cavern Club closed in 1973 and was eventually knocked down. But the bricks were saved and used to build the venue that now stands in its place and draws Beatles fans from around the world.

McCartney gave a concert at the venue in 1999 when he played a range of his songs and covers.

He earlier said on Twitter he would perform at 2 p.m. (1300 GMT), with tickets being handed out for free from 10 a.m. "on a first come, first served basis".

"It's a dream isn't it. My dream is to go back in time to the 60s and see them at the Cavern," fan Lottie Ryan, 27, said as she waiting to get into the venue. "This is the closest I'm ever going to get. I'm so excited."

On Wednesday, McCartney attended a Q&A session at the Liverpool Institute of Performing Arts, where he was asked which musicians he had worked with he admired the most. His answer began with fellow Beatles John Lennon, George Harrison and Ringo Starr.

"Having worked with John so one on one, I got to see his brilliance before the world did," he said. 

source: news.abs-cbn.com

Arise Sir Ringo: Beatles drummer knighted at Buckingham Palace

LONDON -- Former Beatles drummer Ringo Starr was knighted at Buckingham Palace on Tuesday and joked with reporters afterwards: "I expect you to use my title."

The 77-year-old, originally from Liverpool and now based in Los Angeles, was honored for his services to music in Queen Elizabeth's New Year's honors list.

Ringo, real name Richard Starkey, joined Paul McCartney, George Harrison and John Lennon in the Beatles as a replacement drummer for Pete Best in 1962 and occasionally sang lead vocals, notably in "Yellow Submarine" and "With a Little Help from my Friends."

He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a Beatle in 1988 and again in 2015 for his solo career after the group split up.

McCartney was knighted 21 years ago and Tuesday's ceremony came 53 years after the Beatles received MBEs in 1965.

Accompanied by his wife, Barbara Bach, Ringo was knighted by Prince William with a ceremonial sword to become Sir Richard Starkey.

"I don't know how to use this (title) properly," he said as he showed the medal to a BBC reporter after the ceremony, "but I expect you to use it." 

source: news.abs-cbn.com

Paul McCartney sues to take back Beatles catalog

Paul McCartney on Wednesday filed a lawsuit to secure the copyright to the Beatles back catalog in a case that could have wide ramifications for the music industry.

The complicated dispute centers around the US Copyright Act of 1976 which aimed to address pop music's checkered history with artists by ensuring long-term rights for songwriters and their heirs.

Under the law, artists could reclaim copyright for songs 35 years after they gave them away -- or 56 years for tracks from before 1978.

But in a startling win for publishers, a British court in December refused to grant Duran Duran the US rights to the pop group's early hits -- such as "Rio" and the James Bond theme "A View to a Kill" -- on the grounds that the US act did not apply in Britain.

McCartney filed the lawsuit in a federal court in New York against Sony ATV Music Publishing, which was also involved in the Duran Duran case, in a bid to guarantee the transfer of copyright.

Next year will mark 56 years, the timeframe spelled out in the US Copyright Act, since the Beatles released their first single, "Love Me Do," in 1962.

The lawsuit said that the CEO of Sony ATV encountered McCartney's lawyer at a concert shortly before the Duran Duran decision and hinted that the publisher would fight harder in light of the British case.

The lawsuit said that McCartney had asked Sony ATV to make clear that it recognized the former Beatle's notices that he planned to terminate publishing contracts under the US law.

"Defendants have refused to provide such confirmation," the lawsuit said, voicing worry that Sony ATV would instead declare McCartney -- who wrote much of the Beatles catalog with the late John Lennon -- to be in breach of contract.

The case could have wide effects on the future of payments in the music industry. Publishers collect and distribute royalties to songwriters -- an especially lucrative area for classic tunes.

Sony ATV has rights to millions of songs including those by other top names in rock history including Michael Jackson, Marvin Gaye and Bob Dylan.

Ironically, Jackson bought rights to Beatles songs after a leisurely chat with McCartney who explained the importance of music publishing.

source: news.abs-cbn.com

Beatles, wedding attract big TV audience to Grammys

LOS ANGELES -- Beatles, robots and a mass wedding drew 28.5 million viewers to the Grammy awards television broadcast on Sunday night, the show's second-largest audience in two decades, CBS Corp's broadcast network CBS said on Monday.

French electronic-music duo Daft Punk, known for their robot-inspired outfits, took home four awards including album and record of the year, and New Zealand's 17-year-old newcomer Lorde won two, including song of the year.

Viewership was up from last year's Grammys, when 28.1 million viewers tuned into the show, and is the second-largest audience for the Grammy telecast since 1993.

The 2012 show attracted 39.9 million viewers, the second-largest Grammy TV audience ever, thanks largely to British singer Adele's six wins and performance comeback after throat surgery and the drowning death of singer Whitney Houston in a bathtub in a Beverly Hills hotel the night before show.

On Sunday night's show, Seattle-based rapper-producer duo Macklemore & Ryan Lewis was named best new artist among four wins. The pair presided over the night's most dramatic moment when 33 same-sex and heterosexual couples were married live on air during a performance of their gay rights ode "Same Love." They were joined by Madonna and Queen Latifah on stage.

The 56th annual Grammys also saw a rare performance by the two surviving members of The Beatles, as Paul McCartney on piano and Ringo Starr on drums came together to sing the new song "Queenie Eye."

The reunion came ahead of the Recording Academy's tribute to the 50th anniversary of The Beatles appearing on "The Ed Sullivan Show" in February 1964, credited with launching rock music's British Invasion.

The three-and-a-half-hour show was a hot topic on social media, with 15.2 million Tweets about the Grammys during the East Coast broadcast, a Twitter spokesman said

The most-Tweeted about performance came midway through the show, when alt-rock group Imagine Dragons and rapper Kendrick Lamar came together for a high-octane mash-up of their songs, garnering more than 172,000 Tweets per minute.

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com

The Beatles’ ‘Magical Mystery Tour’ resurfaces 45 years later: Once hated, now appreciated

Any work of art that everyone thinks stinks must have something going for it. Case in point: The Beatles' much-maligned, rarely seen TV movie “Magical Mystery Tour.”

It bombed on impact in December 1967, when it debuted on the BBC, killing any chance for an airing on American TV. While the 53-minute flick has had periodic limited release in the U.S. (including a VHS version in the late ’80s), many fans have never had the chance to see it.

Tuesday, 45 (!) years later, EMI is releasing the offending work on DVD and for the first time on Blu-Ray, with each version enhanced by scenes axed from the original flick, plus a scene-by-scene commentary by Sir Paul himself.

So howlingly bad was the reaction to “MMT” that, back in the day, the cute Beatle took the rare step of apologizing for it. “We goofed,” he told a reporter. “It was a challenge and it didn’t come off.”

In his new commentary, Paul says he now quite likes it and, I must say, so do I. It’s witty, freeing, and features six classic Beatles songs written back in ’67 just for the film — from the title track, with its killer backbeat, to the melancholy “Fool on the Hill.”






Even so, you can understand why the show got a “what-the?” reaction the first time around. The band had been riding high with “Sgt. Pepper,” released just six months before, and they’d set critics’ expectations into orbit with their two previous film works: “A Hard Day’s Night” and “Help!” from ’64 and ’65, respectively. But those movies had been directed by the comedically sure Richard Lester. More, they had actual scripts. For “Magical Mystery Tour” the group decided to direct it themselves and, instead of a plot or written dialogue, McCartney presented to the players a circle with a dot on top. From there, they had to wing it.

As you’d expect, there’s no real plot, just a series of fantasies from various characters, as they roll down the English countryside in the colorful bus. Yet the stoner-like sprawl perfectly captures the sensibility of the then-burgeoning ’60s psychedelia. There’s a great, absurdist wit to the featured actors — especially Beatles regular Vincent Spinetti as a blitheringly insane military man. Of course, the Fab Four themselves have dead-on comic rhythm, making even their most throw-away lines hilarious.



McCartney’s new commentary pops with fun facts and sly asides. And there’s a priceless, once-suppressed scene of the classic band Traffic performing their single “Here We Go Round the Mulberry Bush.”

In his monologue, McCartney says the reason the film “makes no sense” is because nothing about the group made a lick of it at the time. But the way the Beatles translated that madness into zany gestures and smart song has a charm that couldn’t be more clear.

source: nydailynews.com

Beatles hits become mobile phone ringtones

SAN FRANCISCO -- Hits from The Beatles have finally joined the chorus of ringtones available for mobile phones.

Catchy 30-second snippets from more than two dozen of the famed 1960s British rock band's top tunes are available exclusive at Apple's online iTunes shop, a message Wednesday at official website thebeatles.com.

"Fans around the world can, for the first time, purchase ringtones for the Beatles' 27 UK and US #1 hits, exclusively on iTunes," the message announced.

"You can even assign your favorite tracks to your favorite people," it continued.

The ringtones were priced at $1.29 each and could be downloaded for iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch devices. The list of Beatles songs included "Can't Buy Me Love" and "Let It Be."

The Beatles arrived on iTunes in November of 2010 after what late Apple's Steve Jobs described at the time as "a long and winding road."

A decade had been spent getting the music of "Fab Four" -- Paul McCartney, John Lennon, George Harrison and Ringo Starr -- released in digital form for Apple's wildly popular mobile devices.

The vast catalog of Beatles hits had been held back for years from Internet download sites amid legal squabbles, although their songs have long circulated as unlicensed downloads available from unlicensed peer-to-peer networks.

article source: interaksyon.com

Ex-Beatle Paul McCartney says 'I Do' for third time

LONDON - Paul McCartney married for the third time on Sunday, exchanging vows with American heiress Nancy Shevell at the same London register office where the former Beatle wed his first wife Linda in 1969.

The beaming couple emerged from the grey-stone Old Marylebone Town Hall to confetti and cheers from dozens of fans who had waited hours to catch a glimpse of the music legend and his new wife.

Brunette Shevell, 51, wore a knee-length, long-sleeved white dress which reports said was designed by McCartney's fashion designer daughter Stella.

The bride also had a white flower in her hair and carried a small posy of roses, while "Hey Jude" singer McCartney wore a dark suit and light blue tie. One newspaper had a headline saying: "Yes-today", in a reference to the famous Beatles song.

Despite his huge wealth as a key songwriter and frontman for the world's most successful pop band, 69-year-old McCartney chose a modest civil ceremony before a small group of family and friends.

Ringo Starr, the only other surviving member of the "Fab Four", and his wife Barbara Bach were among the guests at the wedding. Ex-Beatle John Lennon, who was assassinated in New York in 1980, would have been 71 on the day of the wedding.

After the ceremony, which lasted just over an hour, the newlyweds returned to McCartney's home in St. John's Wood for an evening reception.

The property in the upmarket area of north London is just a few streets away from the Abbey Road Studios where the Beatles recorded many of their most famous songs.

Asked how he felt after marrying for a third time, he told reporters: "Terrific, thank you. I feel married. I feel absolutely wonderful."

Sweet serenade

Rock'n'roll royalty including Starr, Rolling Stone Ronnie Wood and guitarist Jeff Beck attended the reception, as did model Twiggy and artist Tracey Emin.

Late Beatle George Harrison's widow Olivia turned up to the soiree, which was also designed to be a low-key affair.

McCartney's spokesman declined to divulge any details of the wedding day, but celebrity-hungry tabloids in Britain, where the affectionately named "Macca" is hugely popular, have been poring over every detail.

According to reports, McCartney composed a song for Shevell especially for their big day.

He was also expected to perform "Let it Be", which he sang to Shevell on one of their first holidays together three years ago, and her favorite "Let Me Roll It", the Sunday Mirror said.

McCartney was married for 29 years to American photographer Linda until her death from breast cancer in 1998. He said at the time that he and Linda had spent just 11 nights apart during their marriage.

McCartney's marriage to former model and charity campaigner Heather Mills was less happy.

The couple wedded in 2002 in a lavish ceremony at Castle Leslie in Ireland estimated by celebrity magazines to have cost around $3.2 million.

But four years later they confirmed they had separated, blaming media intrusion into their private lives, and in 2008 the couple divorced.

A judge had to rule on the size of the divorce settlement after the couple failed to reach agreement themselves, and Mills was awarded 24.3 million pounds ($38 million), ending one of the most acrimonious breakups in showbusiness history.

She had claimed 125 million pounds and said McCartney was worth 800 million pounds, although a judge found his fortune was worth half that amount.

McCartney has a son, two daughters and a stepdaughter from his marriage to Linda, and a daughter from his marriage to Mills.

The independently-wealthy Shevell, who was married to an attorney for more than 20 years and serves on the board of New York's Metropolitan Transportation Authority, has a son. - Reuters

Source: gmanews.tv