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Before John Williams became the flagship film composer-conductor anyone thought of when they thought about the Hollywood Bowl, that honor belonged to Henry Mancini. And in some years, when Los Angeles is particularly lucky, it still does, even though the scorer behind “The Pink Panther,” “Days of Wine and Roses” and other classic scores has been gone for 30 years now. This Sunday, the LA Phil will devote the Bowl’s traditional opening night to a 100th birthday celebration for the man who, arguably more than any other, turned movie scores into a truly populist artform… and who conducted at the Bowl 29 times.

It’s not even the only major event involving Mancini’s legacy this weekend. Friday will see the release of a tribute album, “The Henry Mancini 100th Sessions – Henry Has Company,” that features among its guests Lizzo, Stevie Wonder, Quincy Jones, Pat Metheny, Herbie Hancock and, not incidentally,...

Lizzo shared a video on Wednesday with her longtime idol and flute legend James Galway, who she played a duet with at the Met Gala earlier this week.

“Where do I begin…? When I was 11 years old and learning the flute I needed a challenge from my 5th grade level studies. So I found The Man with the Golden Flute by James Galway and it changed the trajectory of my life,” the Special singer wrote in her post. “I learned most of the songs by ear because the sheet music...

Lizzo wasn't shy about performing in front of some of the biggest stars in the world at the 2023 Met Gala. While playing some of her hits at the May 1 event, the star left the stage and moved out into the crowd. She soon began dancing with Gigi Hadid, who seemed more than happy to join in on the fun as Broadway producer Jordan Roth looked on. Fortunately, a photographer was on hand to capture the moment.

According to Vogue, Lizzo started her surprise performance by showing off her flute skills alongside fellow flautist James Galway. They played an excerpt from Mozart's "The Magic Flute." She then removed her silver Fendi cape to reveal a glittery Yitty bodysuit. She also performed "Truth Hurts," "Good as Hell," "Cuz I Love You," "Juice," and "About Damn Time," as well as "Flight of the Bumblebee" alongside Galway.

Though those of us who didn't...

Image Source: Getty / Theo Wargo

Lizzo brought the juice to the 2023 Met Gala. After walking the Metropolitan Museum steps dripping in pearls on Monday evening, the 35-year-old "Special" singer surprised guests with a performance at the Temple of Dendur - and of course, she brought Sasha Flute with her.

Vogue shared an Instagram video of Lizzo's performance the following day, which shows the superstar shining bright in a disco-inspired ensemble. "I'm your entertainment tonight," Lizzo tells the audience in the clip. "I hope that we're feeling Ok. How often are you asked, 'How are you feeling? How are you really feeling?'"

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According to the publication, Lizzo played an instrumental cover of her hit "Truth Hurts," which she followed up with renditions of "Cuz I Love You" and "Good as Hell." She also teamed up with Irish flute player...

Lizzo believes cancel culture is “appropriation” and has become a “trendy” and “misused” term.

On Sunday (8 January), the “Juice” star expressed her concerns about the phrase on her social media.

“This may be a random time to say this but it’s on my heart.. cancel culture is appropriation,” she wrote in a tweet.

“There was real outrage from truly marginalised people and now it’s become trendy, misused and misdirected.”

She continued: “I hope we can phase out of this and focus our outrage on the real problems.”

Cancel culture is the recent cultural trend in which a public figure can become “cancelled” over a statement or their behaviour, which the majority of the public deems unfavourable or offensive.

This may be a random time to say this but it’s on my heart.. cancel culture is appropriation.

There was real outrage from truly marginalized people and now it’s become trendy,...

Kendrick Lamar has revealed why he’s not active on social media.

The 35-year-old rapper, currently on his Morale & the Big Steppers tour, has a reason why his social media is mostly “completely off”.

“My social media, most of the time, is completely off,” Lamar told New York Times. “Because I know, like ... I can easily smell my own s***.

“I know... Like, I’m not one of those dudes that be like, Oh, yeah, I know how good I am, but I also know the reason why I’m so good is because God’s blessed me with the talent to execute on the talent, and the moment that you start getting lost in your ego, that’s when you start going down.”

Earlier this year, Lamar closed Glastonbury Festival with a powerful headline set that saw him chant “Godspeed for women’s rights” before dramatically exiting the Pyramid Stage.

Taylor Swift’s latest album, Midnights, has sold so many copies on vinyl that the format has outsold CDs.

This is the first time that the sales of vinyl have beaten the sales of CDs since the 1980s.

The Midnights vinyl sold a total of 80,000 copies in the UK – the highest number of any record made this century, The Guardian reports.

While CD sales continue to fall, the demand for physical copies of music is clearly still intact.

According to the publication, the sale of vinyl has continued to grow for the last 15 years, hitting around 5.5 million sales this year.

Harry’s House by Harry Styles was the second best-selling vinyl in the UK, followed by Arctic Monkeys with their latest album, The Car.

Arctic Monkeys appear twice on the top ten list, with their album Am at number 10, despite being released in 2013.

This year’s top sellers also feature...

Terry Hall spoke candidly his mental health in a previously broadcast interview on BBC 6 Music.

The frontman of The Specials died on 18 December after an illness from pancreatic cancer, aged 63.

Since the death of the “Too Much Too Young” singer, the BBC has resurfaced old interviews and his various appearances to celebrate Hall’s life and work.

This morning, (Tuesday 27 December) a 2019 interview with host Mary Anne Hobbs was rebroadcast on the radio station as a tribute to the singer.

The interview features Hall discussing life and music with Hobbs while picking some of his favourite songs.

Before the interview ended, Hobbs asked if Hall could tell listeners about the “best of times” so that they could “end on a really positive note”.

“I didn’t realise I was spending the first 50 years of my life in this bubble called depression,” the singer began. “People told me about it, but...

Miley Cyrus apparently requested that her vocals be removed from a Morrissey album track.

The former Smiths frontman posted the update from his online message portal “Messages from Morrissey”.

“Miley Cyrus now wants to be taken off the song ‘I Am Veronica’ for which she volunteered backing vocals almost two years ago,” said the message posted on Christmas eve.

The news follows an update that Morrissey posted regarding his apparent departure from his Los Angeles-based label, Capitol Records.

“This comes at a time when Morrissey has disassociated himself with Capitol Records (Los Angeles), who control the hidden album Bonfire of Teenagers,” contiunued the message.

The information was posted under an image of Cyrus and Morrissey, who can be seen lying on the floor together.

“Above, Morrissey and Miley during Miley’s session for ‘I Am Veronica’,” the image is captioned.

It is not yet known why Cyrus has requested the removal of her vocal,...

Modest Mouse drummer Jeremiah Green has been diagnosed with stage four cancer.

Green was one of the founding members of the US rock band, who formed in 1993.

The drummer’s mother announced the news of Green’s diagnosis in a Facebook post on Christmas day.

“Please send healing vibes for my son…who is battling stage four cancer” wrote Carol Namatame on Sunday 25 December.

“He is so strong and so brave and hanging in there!” she added.

Green’s friend, and Seattle radio DJ Marco Collins also also shared the news on a Facebook post of his own.

"Just found out my friend Jeremiah Green (Modest Mouse) has pulled off the band’s tour because he is currently undergoing chemo treatments to battle stage four cancer,” he wrote in his post.

"Despite having a stage four diagnosis, his prognosis is good! Also his oncologist is a big Mm fan (so...

American singer Lizzo was moved to tears after flutist James Galway wished her a Merry Christmas.

Lizzo, who is also an avid flute player, was sent a personal message from the 83-year-old.

In the special video, which Lizzo shared on her Instagram story, Galway played a version of “We Wish You A Merry Christmas” on his flute.

He then went on to pay personal tribute to the star, in which he said he was her “number one fan”, CBS news reports.

Lizzo also posted another video on her Instagram, captioned “My reaction”.

In the video, the “Juice” singer is moved to tears before saying: “Is that f***ing James Galway?”

Galway OBE is a flute player from Belfast. He established a successful international career as a solo flute player and was nicknamed The Man with the Golden Flute.

Lizzo is also a classically trained flute player. Earlier this year she...

Chris Cummins Oct 22, 2018

In a time when getting through a day feels like a personal victory, Return of the King score resonates more than ever.

It's been nearly 15 years to the day since Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King first hit theaters, and movies -- to say nothing for the world itself -- have changed so much in that cosmic blink of an eye that the early aughts seem so much further away then they actually are. Time is moving at the same pace it always has, yet the rate of acceleration due to modern life feels out of whack -- as if we are all permanently stuck aboard a Scrambler carnival ride that continues to yank and thrust us through our days without ever giving us a moment to get out, stretch our legs, and unrelentingly vomit until the dizziness subsides. Such is life in 2018.

It's...

Dvořák (1841-1904), from Bohemia (at the time, part of the Austro-Hungarian empire, and later in Czechoslovakia) peppered his colorful, amiable music with folk rhythms. The Ninth, subtitled "From the New World" and inspired by and written during his time in the United States, is Dvořák’s most beloved symphony and contains both Bohemian and American influences. Prompted by the current exhibit of the work's original manuscript in New York City at the Bohemian National Hall, I have followed up my review of Jiří Bĕlohlávek's new Dvořák symphony cycle box set on Decca and his concert with the Czech Philharmonic at Carnegie Hall with a trawl through my collection of "New World" recordings, selectively augmented by streaming recordings available on Rdio.com.

There is much debate concerning the materials of the Ninth. The composer himself said that its middle movements were intended to depict scenes from Longfellow's narrative poem The Song of Hiawatha,...

Courtesy Ice Claire Chase

There’s a 1976 recording of James Galway playing Paganini’s “Moto Perpetuo” on his golden flute, in which you never once hear him draw breath.

At the time, it was lauded as an almost superhuman feat; a virtuosic example of circular breathing, a technique that allows wind players to simultaneously inhale air through the nose while breathing it out through the mouth. (Galway later confessed the recording had been spliced together.) In 1997, saxophonist Kenny G used...