GEORGE MICHAEL: Planned collaboration with Nile Rodgers
Nile Rodgers and George Michael were planning a collaboration when the "Careless Whisper" star died on Christmas.
Rodgers tells BBC Radio he'd been at George's house on December 23rd. And the guys were planning to speak by phone on Christmas Day.
Nile had been remixing past material, but the guys were looking to go further. He says, "George Michael was doing a film, because he was planning a big comeback. So they had me come over to his house to shoot the film, and I still hadn't played the demo yet because I thought it was so cool and fairly drastic, I wanted to just play it for him first." George texted him back Christmas Eve asking to speak the next day.
Those plans never came off as George died of still undisclosed causes on December 25th. Rodgers calls it "heartbreaking [that] he never got a chance to hear what I did, so now I'm ambivalent about [releasing] the work because I wanted him to hear it, not the record company necessarily."
DAVID BOWIE: Fans want to build a statue in London
A group of David Bowie fans has launched a campaign to build a statue inspired by the lightning bolt on the cover of Aladdin Sane.
The crowdfunding campaign to build the statue in the Brixton section of London got a boost when Bowie's official site posted about it. Organizers are seeking $1.2 million in the next four weeks to erect the three-story sculpture, which will be made of red- and blue-sprayed stainless steel.
GRACE SLICK: Using royalties to fight her sponsor's cause
Grace Slick is tapping into rock and roll's '60s activist spirit.
The voice of Jefferson Airplane and Starship has approved the licensing of her band's '80s classic "Nothing's Gonna Stop Us Now" in an ad for Chick-Fil-A.
Slick explained in Forbes magazine why someone with progressive views OK'd the song's use by a company known for its anti-marriage equality stance. She'll donate "every dime" to Lambda Legal, which works on behalf of the LGBTQ community. "Instead of them replacing my song with someone else's and losing this opportunity to strike back at anti-LGBTQ forces, I decided to spend the cash in direct opposition to Chick-Fil-A’s causes -- and to make a public example of them, too. We’re going to take some of their money, and pay it back."
The Chick-Fil-A ad began running during the Grammy Awards this month.
DAVID CASSIDY: TV brother tweets his support
David Cassidy is receiving calls of support from friends and family, including his old TV family, following the '70s teen idol's revelation that he's suffering from dementia.
His former Partridge Family co-star Danny Bonaduce is lending his support to his old TV big brother. He tweeted, "David Cassidy once had a bigger fan club than Elvis & The Beatles. If you’re a fan, now is a great time to send him your love & best wishes." Cassidy revealed his diagnosis on Monday after video surfaced of him struggling on stage during a show Saturday night in Agoura Hills, California. (Us Weekly)