DEF LEPPARD: Latest musical act to launch their own beer
Def Leppard are the latest rock act to enter the beer business.
They've teamed up with Seattle-based Elysian Brewing Company on Def Leppard Pale, a six-percent alcohol brew that will make its debut on May 23rd, two days into their upcoming tour with Journey. It will be available at most tour stops and in select bars and restaurants.
It may not be less filling, but singer Joe Elliott tells Billboard it "tastes great." He says he wouldn't have even agreed to talk about it if he didn't think so.
Other artists with their own beer brands include Iron Maiden, AC/DC, KISS, The Rolling Stones and Jimmy Buffett.
MORE BIG 95 KBGO MUSIC NEWS: Tuesday, May 15th
WHITNEY HOUSTON: Authorized documentary debuting at Cannes
Just months after an unauthorized documentary on Whitney Houston aired on Showtime, another film on the doomed diva is about to debut.
Kevin Macdonald, who directed 2015's acclaimed Amy (about Amy Winehouse) oversaw the project, which will be screened at the Cannes [pr: can] Film Festival in France.
Whitney is promoted as an "unflinching portrait" that "probes beyond familiar tabloid headlines and sheds new light on the spellbinding trajectory" of the late singer's life. It was produced with the cooperation of Whitney's sister-in-law Pat Houston and the Houston estate.
Macdonald says he "approached Whitney’s life like a mystery story; why did someone with so much raw talent and beauty self-destruct so publicly and painfully?" He thanks the family, who "entrusted me with the 'keys to the vault' while giving me complete freedom to follow the story wherever it went."
Whitney is scheduled to debut in theaters in early July. (Entertainment Weekly)
JOURNEY: Jonathan Cain says the band still has another album in it
Despite a rift with Neal Schon which almost scuttled Journey last year, Jonathan Cain believes the band still has another album in it.
He tells MyGlobalMind.com, "We haven’t given up on making a new CD; it’s just that the market has changed so much. We have to be careful when making a new offering. We have to map it out, so it makes sense economically... I’m encouraged that we can do one. I think Neal and I are going to have to rope [singer] Arnel[Pineda] in."
He says recent experience could make the process easier. "I have been making Christian music, and it has given me a mastery of putting things together. When I come to the studio, I have everything arranged and ready to go. If we apply that approach, we should be able to knock things out in a week or two."
Journey's last studio album, Eclipse, came out in 2011. The band's spring and summer tour with Def Leppard begins next Monday, the 21st, in Hartford, Connecticut.
SPICE GIRLS: Thinking about a 'tell-all' documentary
The Spice Girls won't mark their 20th anniversary with a concert tour. But the '90s British stars are apparently considering a documentary.
London's Sun reports, "Victoria Beckham, Mel B, Mel C, Emma Bunton and Geri Horner will be returning to the big screen, potentially in time for next year’s [Cannes Festival]."
The plan for a tell-all film is on the table, as is an animated project that would depict the singers as superheroes.
OLIVIA NEWTON-JOHN: She's now Dr. Olivia
You can call Olivia Newton-John a singer, an actress and, now, a doctor.
The two-time cancer survivor received an honorary doctorate Monday from Australia's LaTrobe University for her services to cancer research. The disease has repeatedly struck her and her family. In 1992, she was first diagnosed with breast cancer -- the same week her father died from a malignancy. Five years ago, Olivia lost her older sister Rona to brain cancer. And last year, Olivia's cancer returned and metasticized to her back.
The Olivia Newton-John Cancer Wellness and Research Centre opened in the Heidelberg neighborhood of Melbourne. Australia in 2009. The facility offers medical treatment, wellness and supportive care, and research.
Holding back tears at times during her acceptance speech, she talked about fighting back after her first diagnosis. Initially reluctant, she agreed to lend her name to the Melbourne facility "if they included a wellness center, where people could enjoy the therapies" -- such as herbs, accupuncture and yoga -- to "treat the whole person: body, mind and spirit, [which was] a new concept for a public hospital." (Daily Mail)
Olivia Newton-John discusses her cancer journey and activism:
"In 1992, I had my first journey with breast cancer. I had six year-old daughter and much to live for. After a year of treatment, I continued on with my musical life. And in 2003, I was invited to lend my name to a new cancer center, to be built on the Austin campus in Heidelberg."
Olivia Newton-John talked about her 2017 relapse:
"And as you all may know, I have had a re-occurrence of my breast cancer. But I'm doing really well, I'm doing great and I feel wonderful. I am focusing on the positive and using all my complimentary protocols. I'm fighting."