Ray Charles News

MUSE/IQUE, known for its counter-conventional performances that feel more like parties than formal concerts, launches 'Summer of Sound' 2013 with 'Lost in the Stars with Patti Austin,' featuring the Grammy Award-winning legend, on Saturday, June 29, 2013, 7:30 pm, outdoors at Caltech's Beckman Mall in Pasadena.

Adelaide Cabaret Festival Artistic Director Kate Ceberano has upped the ante at this year's Festival with not one, not two, not even three leading ladies making their Adelaide Cabaret Festival debut but four divas will reign supreme, including both the good and bad witches of Broadway smash hit Wicked, Kristin Chenoweth and Idina Menzel as well as Cassandra Wilson and Molly Ringwald.

Grammy award-winning singer/songwriter LeAnn Rimes is releasing her new album, SPITFIRE, today, June 4, 2013.

Bay Area Cabaret will conclude its 2012-2013 season by honoring the memory and legendary career of composer Marvin Hamlisch. Selections from his work (A Chorus Line, The Way We Were, They're Playing Our Song) will be performed by special guests including Broadway stars Lisa Vroman (The Phantom of the Opera, Sweeney Todd) and Karen Mason (Mamma Mia!, Sunset Boulevard), Grammy Award winner Billy Stritch, 2012 Bay Area Teen Idol winner Bobby Conte Thornton, Academy Award-winning songwriters Alan and Marilyn Bergman, and other guest artists to be announced. Having performed with Bay Area Cabaret for the grand re-opening of the Venetian Room in 2010, Mr. Hamlisch will always hold a special place in Bay Area Cabaret's history. This tribute to his legacy will take place on the late composer's 69th birthday, tonight, June 2, 2013, at 8pm in the historic Venetian Room of the Fairmont San Francisco (950 Mason Street). Tickets ($75 - $100) are available at www.bayareacabaret.org or by phone at City Box Office (415) 392-4400.

Rooftop films has announced its upcoming events and screenings for June 2013. On June 7, Rooftop presents a night of eerie and mysterious short films. Preceding the shorts, world-renowned pianist Bruce Levingston will perform Phillip Glass' 'Dracula' over a presage of short films.

These three performers present a most unpredictable mixture of brilliant, beguiling music that spans across three generations of influences.

The sounds of gospel music ring out with music from contemporary and classic figures in the field as an integral part of the 2013 Summerstage festival.

Packed with a plethora of talent heading the cast - Michael Douglas, Matt Damon, Debbie Reynolds, Rob Lowe, Scott Bakula, Cheyenne Jackson and Dan Aykroyd - and supposedly the final feature film from Academy Award-winning auteur Steven Soderbergh, HBO's BEHIND THE CANDELABRA is a shimmering, glittering Hope Diamond of a musical biopic - and, also, an all-too-befitting final film to feature musical arrangements by the late, great Marvin Hamlish.

The Scintas - a Las Vegas staple for the first decade of this century - have happily found a new home at The D in downtown Las Vegas.

Roger Salloom featuring Charles Neville and Jessica Freeman will perform on Friday June 28, 2013 at 9:00 PM at Bridge Street Live - Tickets available: $20 General Admission; $30 VIP Reserved.

The Centenary Stage Company will host a tribute to one of the most exciting musical artists of our time, Ray Charles, with 'Forever Ray', a stellar 13-piece lineup of powerhouse musicians. Members of the band have toured or recorded with Ray Charles, Alicia Keys, Rod Stewart, Levon Helm, Christina Aguilera, Stevie Wonder, Kelly Clarkson, Patti LaBelle and Frank Sinatra to name a few.

In tribute to the legends responsible for making American music part of global popular culture, the U.S. Postal Service today proudly announces the launch of a new Music Icons stamp series with the issuance of a stamp honoring Lydia Mendoza, one of the first and greatest stars of Tejano music.

Golden Globe winner Charlie Sheen stars alongside Jason Schwartzman and Academy Award nominee Bill Murray in the fascinating comedy A GLIMPSE INTO THE MIND OF CHARLES SWAN III arriving on Blu-ray Disc and DVD today, May 14 from Lionsgate Home Entertainment.

EXPO 1: New York, an exploration of ecological challenges in the context of the economic and socio-political instability of the early 21st century opens at MoMA PS1, The Museum of Modern Art, and Rockaway Beach. Acting in the guise of a festival-as-institution, EXPO 1: New York imagines a contemporary art museum dedicated to ecological concerns, presenting a simultaneity of modules, interventions, solo projects, and group exhibitions including a school, a colony, a cinema, a geodesic dome, Rain Room, and more. EXPO 1: New York is made possible by a partnership with Volkswagen Group of America. Rain Room is on view at MoMA, courtesy of RH, Restoration Hardware.

Award-winning blues rock star and guitar hero Joe Bonamassa will return to Detroit's Fox Theatre for an intimate 'Evening with' performance tonight, May 3 at 8 p.m. The one-night-only show is in support of his brand new solo album, Driving Towards The Daylight, which made its debut at #1 on the Billboard Blues Chart, the eighth time a Bonamassa album has debuted at #1.

Bay Area Cabaret will conclude its 2012-2013 season by honoring the memory and legendary career of composer Marvin Hamlisch. Selections from his work (A Chorus Line, The Way We Were, They're Playing Our Song) will be performed by special guests including Broadway stars Lisa Vroman (The Phantom of the Opera, Sweeney Todd) and Karen Mason (Mamma Mia!, Sunset Boulevard), Grammy Award winner Billy Stritch, 2012 Bay Area Teen Idol winner Bobby Conte Thornton, Academy Award-winning songwriters Alan and Marilyn Bergman, and other guest artists to be announced. Having performed with Bay Area Cabaret for the grand re-opening of the Venetian Room in 2010, Mr. Hamlisch will always hold a special place in Bay Area Cabaret's history. This tribute to his legacy will take place on the late composer's 69th birthday, Sunday, June 2, 2013, at 8pm in the historic Venetian Room of the Fairmont San Francisco (950 Mason Street). Tickets ($75 - $100) are available at www.bayareacabaret.org or by phone at City Box Office (415) 392-4400.

Grammy award-winning singer/songwriter LeAnn Rimes is releasing her new album, SPITFIRE, on June 4, 2013.

The Righteous Brothers can rightfully claim to have fathered the genre “blue-eyed soul,” and as the singer who held down the low-end of the duo, Bill Medley's voice—raw and emotional—is a virtual trademark in popular music. In the mid-1960s, the Righteous Brothers became a fixture on Top Forty radio, with You're My Soul and Inspiration, Unchained Melody and You've Lost That Lovin' Feeling, the most played song in American radio history and more. For his Three Stages performance, the Grammy award winner and Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee will be joined on stage by his daughter McKenna Medley.

In the video below, American-Idol runner-up Jessica Sanchez talks about her debut album and her upcoming appearance on GLEE. Click below to watch the interview!