Aretha Franklin News

Clive Davis told the audience at his pre-Grammy party that Jennifer Hudson will be playing Aretha Franklin in the upcoming film biopic about the Queen of Soul. According to Deadline, Franklin hand-picked Hudson to portray her.

Sony Corporation ('Sony') and Blue Note Media Group ('Blue Note' / 'BNMG') - the sponsorship affiliate of Blue Note Entertainment Group, the organization that owns, operates, licenses, and/or programs 10 music venues worldwide including the iconic Blue Note Jazz Club - today announced a landmark strategic sponsorship agreement. As part of the sponsorship, Sony will collaborate with Blue Note to open 'Sony Hall,' a new music venue in Manhattan, sponsor the annual Blue Note Jazz Festival each June in New York City, as well as other plans to be announced. Located in the heart of New York's Theatre District (235 W. 46th St at the Paramount Hotel, in the space previously known as Diamond Horseshoe), Sony Hall is scheduled to open in Spring 2018.

SYDNEY BROWN is a Pop singer/songwriter from San Francisco, CA, and together with Bay Area legend NARADA MICHAEL WALDEN wrote and recorded the single LOVE IS STRONGER THAN SMOKE AND FIRE as a benefit for the victims of the 2017 California fires.

Legends in Concert kicks off its record-breaking 35th season with an incomparable cast of music legends. The longest-running show in Las Vegas will bring audiences to their feet with performances paying tribute to Elvis Presley, Aretha Franklin, Sting and Michael Jackson at Flamingo Las Vegas February 3 through May 17.

Chris Isaacson Presents has announced a full slate of winter entertainment at three venues: Catalina Bar & Grill in Hollywood, Martinis Above Fourth in San Diego, and The Purple Room in Palm Springs. The lineup begins with vocal powerhouse Crissy Collins and continues with Will & Anthony Nunziata; Alisan Porter (winner of NBC's The Voice); Emmy Award-winner Leslie Jordan in his new show Exposed; and American Idol's Anthony Fedorov with Australian singer/songwriter Shelley Segal.

The dynamic duo AnthonyKen LLC (Anthony Wayne and Kendrell Bowman, Producers) are making a name for themselves in the Broadway community and showing that they are a force to be reckoned with.

The Seven Angels Theatre puts on an amazing retrospective of 1960s music by women, with a highly talented cast that can sing and dance, accompanied by a rocking band.

On the occasion of what would have been her 75th birthday, A NIGHT WITH JANIS JOPLIN opened a two-night engagement at the Boch Center Shubert Theatre, sharing with Boston the spirit of Janis and the blues vocalists who inspired her. Newton native Kelly McIntyre evokes Joplin with her body language, a rapid verbal patter, and a powerhouse voice that can go from zero to sixty. The show is at its best when focusing on the musical numbers, a generous offering from the singer's canon of hits.

Suzanne O. Davis re-creates the sound and vibe of a 1970s Carole King concert when Tapestry: The Carole King Songbook comes to Mayo Performing Arts Center today, January 19, 2018 at 8 pm.

Segerstrom Center's annual Off Center Festival returns January 19 February 3, 201 8 for another thrillin g walk on the wild side of new theater, music and avant - garde performance art.

On Saturday, February 24, Shoshana Bean will perform her album release show Spectrum - at Ace Theater Downtown Los Angeles. Spectrum, Bean's fourth studio album which will be released on February 9, is a fresh new take on the classic tradition of big band with arrangements by Grammy award-nominated arranger Alan Ferber. This concert will feature Bean along with an 18 piece big band performing a carefully-selected collection of standards, classics and modern favorites, while still including a few Bean-penned gems. Bean made her Broadway debut in the original cast of Hairspray before taking over for Idina Menzel as Elphaba in Wicked and has performed all over the world with artists such as Ariana Grande, Brian McKnight, Postmodern Jukebox (PMJ), David Foster and Michael Jackson.

Beverly Hills-based label Under The Moon Records is proud to announce its signing of neo-soul artist Liyah Bey. A Los Angeles-based artist known for blending her love of classic R&B with modern pop aesthetics to create powerful settings for her extraordinary vocal chops, the label said they are focused on accelerating Liyah's already promising career.

Edwin Hawkins, the four-time Grammy Award-winning leader of The Edwin Hawkins Singers' 1969 million-seller, Oh Happy Day, died January 15th at his home in the Bay area, after a bout with pancreatic cancer. He was 74 years old.

Vincent Chancey (French horn, pandeiro, composition) and Newman Taylor Baker (washboard and composition) announce their first multi-arts collaboration, 2/4/THREE, to be presented by Roulette Intermedium, Inc., 509 Atlantic Avenue in Brooklyn, NY, on Saturday, February 3, 2018, at 8:00 p.m. For tickets, contact www.roulette.org.

Due to popular demand, Downstairs Cabaret Theatre is pleased to announce a 1-Week-Only Extension of: BETWEEN YOU & ME: POP, ROCK & ROLL FOR YOUR SOUL featuring DCT audience favorite Jenn Cristy, January 18 21, 2018. A former backing artist and multi-instrumentalist for Rock 'N Roll Hall of Fame inductee John Mellencamp as well as an international touring artist, Jenn Cristy brings her amazing vocal style and virtuosic keyboard talents in this eclectic show.

The Hanover Theatre for the Performing Arts is pleased to welcome Dr. Marianne Felice as the first female chair of The Hanover Theatre board of directors. Felice has been a member of the theatre since it opened in 2008 and said she is grateful to the founders and donors whose vision has come true.

Additional Performers Announced For 2018 Musicares Person of The Year In Honor of Fleetwood Mac

The Boch Center announced today that it is working with local archivist David Bieber to celebrate what would have been Janis Joplin's 75th birthday during its presentation of A Night With Janis Joplin at the Boch Center Shubert Theatre January 19-20, 2018. The birthday celebration will display historic pieces from Bieber's archive, bringing to life the legacy of rock and roll icon Janis Joplin.

Their unmistakable sound and romantic ballads helped to define the music of the '80s. Graham Russell and Russell Hitchcock, better known as Air Supply, come to The Hanover Theatre for the Performing Arts for one night only on Friday, March 9 at 8 p.m. Tickets are on sale now to theatre members and go on sale to the general public on Friday, January 12 at 10 a.m.

The surviving 1968 sanitation workers some of them are still on the job were presented with the prestigious NAACP Vanguard Award in conjunction with the 49th NAACP Image Awards at the historic Lorraine Motel in Memphis, TN, now the site of the National Civil Rights Museum.