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Jim Stewart, co-founder of Stax Records in Memphis, dies
Read full article: Jim Stewart, co-founder of Stax Records in Memphis, diesJim Stewart, the white Tennessee farm boy and fiddle player who co-founded the influential Stax Records with his sister in a Black, inner-city Memphis neighborhood and helped build the soulful “Memphis sound,” has died at age 92.
New this week: 'Becoming Cousteau,' Gaga and Tony Bennett
Read full article: New this week: 'Becoming Cousteau,' Gaga and Tony BennettThis week’s new entertainment releases include the first ever album of covers by Deep Purple, an acclaimed documentary about undersea explorer Jacques-Yves Cousteau on Disney+ and a concert video of Tony Bennett and Lady Gaga.
Black lawmaker hopes highway project can right an old wrong
Read full article: Black lawmaker hopes highway project can right an old wrongTennessee state Rep. Harold Love Jr.'s father put up a fight in the 1960s against rerouting Interstate 40 because he believed it would stifle and isolate Nashville’s Black community.
Eddie Murphy to be inducted into NAACP Hall of Fame
Read full article: Eddie Murphy to be inducted into NAACP Hall of FameFILE - In this Jan. 12, 2020, file photo, Eddie Murphy accepts the lifetime achievement award at the 25th annual Critics' Choice Awards in Santa Monica, Calif. Murphy will be inducted into the NAACP Image Awards Hall of Fame this month. The NAACP announced Thursday, March 11, 2021, that Murphy will be inducted during the March 27 ceremony, which will air on CBS. (AP Photo/Chris Pizzello, File)LOS ANGELES – Eddie Murphy will be inducted into the NAACP Image Awards Hall of Fame this month. The NAACP announced Thursday that Murphy will be inducted during the March 27 ceremony, which will air on CBS. The NAACP Image Awards honoring entertainers and writers of color will also simulcast on BET, MTV, VH1, MTV2, BET HER and LOGO.
‘Coming 2 America,’ starring Eddie Murphy and Arsenio Hall, starts streaming Friday on Amazon Prime
Read full article: ‘Coming 2 America,’ starring Eddie Murphy and Arsenio Hall, starts streaming Friday on Amazon PrimeHere’s a collection curated by The Associated Press’ entertainment journalists of what’s arriving on TV, streaming services and music platforms this week. MOVIES— Eddie Murphy and Arsenio Hall are back in Queens as Prince Akeem and Semmi in “Coming 2 America,” the sequel to the 1988 film, which is now coming straight to your living room Friday on Amazon Prime Video. Set to becoming the King of Zamunda, Murphy’s character returns to the U.S. to find a son he’s never met. The latter album includes songs by African artists including Nasty C, Tiwa Savage, Tekno, DJ Arafat and more. The big-voiced Grammy-winning singer self-produced “Baby, I’m Hollywood!” – which is a mix of soul music, piano ballads and funk sounds.
Charley Pride overcame racial barriers as country music star
Read full article: Charley Pride overcame racial barriers as country music starAnd he did it by winning over millions of country music fans. Until the early 1990s, when Cleve Francis came along, Pride was the only Black country singer signed to a major label. “Then it was ‘first Negro country singer;’ then ‘first Black country singer.’ Now I’m the `first African-American country singer.′ That’s about the only thing that’s changed. Throughout his career, he sang positive songs instead of sad ones often associated with country music. Even a country singer,” said country singer Rissi Palmer on Twitter.
Carol Burnett puts variety, and music, back in her show
Read full article: Carol Burnett puts variety, and music, back in her showFILE - Carol Burnett arrives at the 76th annual Golden Globe Awards on Jan. 6, 2019, in Beverly Hills, Calif.. Sixty-five episodes of The Carol Burnett Show have been restored and expanded and are streaming for the first time on services including Hulu and Tubi. (Photo by Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP, File)LOS ANGELES – Carol Burnett is so glad we had this time together, as she sang in her signature song. And of course in television the “v” of vaudeville became the “v” of variety show," Burnett told The Associated Press this week. One restored episode from the show’s first season ends with Burnett, Lawrence, comic Phyllis Diller and dancer Gwen Verdon wearing psychedelic “Sgt. “It’s just me and Vicki now,” Burnett said with a sigh.
Johnny Nash, singer of ‘I Can See Clearly Now,’ dies at 80
Read full article: Johnny Nash, singer of ‘I Can See Clearly Now,’ dies at 80Johnny Nash, a singer-songwriter, actor and producer who rose from pop crooner to early reggae star to the creator and performer of the million-selling anthem “I Can See Clearly Now,” died Tuesday, his son said. Nash, who had been in declining health, died of natural causes at home in Houston, the city of his birth, his son, Johnny Nash Jr., told The Associated Press. Nash was in his early 30s when “I Can See Clearly Now” topped the charts in 1972 and he had lived several show business lives. Music is for the ears and not the age,” Nash told Cameron Crowe, then writing for Zoo World Magazine, in 1973. He had loved riding horses since childhood and as an adult lived with his family on a ranch in Houston, where for years he also managed rodeo shows at the Johnny Nash Indoor Arena.
Toots Hibbert, beloved reggae star, dead at 77
Read full article: Toots Hibbert, beloved reggae star, dead at 77FILE - In this May 3, 2018 file photo, Toots Hibbert of Toots and the Maytals performs at the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival in New Orleans. Hibbert, frontman of Toots & the Maytals, had been in a medically-induced coma at a hospital in Kingston since earlier this month. Grammy nominations for Hibbert included best reggae album of 2012 for “Reggae Got Soul” and best reggae album of 2007 for “Light Your Light.” Hibbert was ranked No. Married to his wife, Doreen, for nearly 40 years, Hibbert had eight children, including the reggae performers Junior Hibbert and Leba Hibbert. Frederick Nathaniel Hibbert ("Toots" was a childhood nickname) was born in May Pen, Parish of Clarendon.