Beatles News
Ringo Starr has won an award for his humanitarian work. The former Beatle attended the GQ Men of the Year Awards where he was given the award for his work with the David Lynch Foundation. The foundation helps abused children and veterans with post-traumatic stress, through transcendental meditation - a practice Ringo first studied when he was inThe Beatles, with the Maharishi in 1968. Ringo is the face of designer John Varvatos’s Autumn/Winter 2014 campaign, with his profits feeding back into the David Lynch Foundation. Ringo arrived at the ceremony at London’s Royal Opera House with wife Barbara Bach and the couple posed for photographs on the red carpet before joining guests inside. Pippa Middleton, Johnny Depp and celebrity couple Kim Kardashian and Kanye West were also in attendance at the star-studded bash.
Gene Simmons credits The Beatles for the biggest impact on fashion in the past century. The Kiss bass guitarist — while promoting the Sept. 9 Fashion Rocks at the Barclays Center (and live on CBS) — said: “Not since the Renaissance have men felt comfortable in public wearing long hair — which opened the door to the counter culture. The Beatles had a societal impact on par with the advent of the birth control pill.”
Sir Paul McCartney has become the latest celebrity to suffer a stream of online abuse from pro-independence Scots, after he signed a letter calling for a no vote inthis month's independence referendum. Along with 200 figures from cinema, sport, television and literature that included Sir Mick Jagger, Dame Judi Dench and Stephen Hawking, he signed the letter which said: “What unites us is much greater than what divides us. Let’s stay together.” In comments that probably make Macca glad his 1977 song Mull of Kintyre was released before Twitter was invented, he was called a "prick" - and much worse - on social media repeatedly. He was also described as "having more money than sense" and needing spoon feeding. The comments follow debate last week about the problem of online abuse that has dogged the independence debate. So-called "cybernats" - trolls who attack opponents of independence on social media - have previously targetted public figures including JK Rowling, who publicly backed the no campaign earlier this year.
Sir Paul McCartney has become the latest celebrity to call for Scotland to stay part of the UK ahead of the independence referendum. The music legend made the declaration as the Let's Stay Together campaign sought support in Liverpool. The campaign said about 50,000 people, including celebrities like Sir Paul and Sir Mick Jagger, have put their names to an open letter to voters. A spokesman for Yes Scotland said the case for "Yes" was a democratic one. Sir Paul added his name to an open letter to voters which says: "The decision on whether to leave our shared country is, of course, absolutely yours alone. "Nevertheless, that decision will have a huge effect on all of us in the rest of the United Kingdom. "We want to let you know how very much we value our bonds of citizenship with you, and to express our hope that you will vote to renew them. "What unites us is much greater than what divides us. Let's stay together." Sir Bruce Forsyth, Dame Judi Dench, Simon Cowell, Sir Bobby Charlton and Prof Stephen Hawking are also among the signatories. TV historian Dan Snow, one of the campaign co-ordinators for Let's Stay Together, said: "Sir Paul is one of Britain and the world's most respected musicians. We are humbled that he has signed the letter.
The producers of The Lennon Report – a film examining the aftermath of John Lennon’s assassination and those who tried to save him – have defended their project from accusations of cashing in on the 35th anniversary of the former Beatle’s death. The film will star Entourage’s Kevin Dillon (pictured) as a motorcycle cop, part of the emergency services team that attended the scene when Lennon was shot and killed by Mark Chapman outside his Manhattan home in December 1980. The film’s producers Gabriel and Rafael Francisco spoke to the BBC about the project. Rafael said: “People should come and watch the film and see for themselves. We’re not trying to cash in on anything.” Gabriel further defended their reasons for making the film: “We really want to show what the people in New York City did to save a person even though they didn’t know who it was at the time.” Following a similar narrative arc to last year’s Parkland (which examined the shooting of President John F Kennedy), the film will focus on the efforts of emergency services at the scene and at the Roosevelt Hospital where Lennon was taken, and how the story developed in the media.
Artist Yoko Ono is hoping to visit Folkestone next month to pay her respects at a new war memorial in Folkestone, it has been revealed today. The planned visit was announced as her work goes on show as part of the town Triennial arts festival. The widow of Beatle John Lennon is among the artists showing work around the town for the festival, which officially opens on Saturday and runs until November. During a press preview today, festival curator Lewis Biggs said the artist hoped to come to the town at the end of September and visit the Step Short memorial arch. The arch was opened by Prince Harry earlier this month to mark the centenary of the outbreak of the First World War. Ono is creating two new exclusive works for Folkestone. Margate’s Tracey Emin will be in town on Saturday as the launch day coincides with the arts extravaganza the Vauxhall Art Car Boot Fair at the harbour.
Ivor Davis knows exactly where he was 50 years ago today—hanging out with The Beatles. As the West Coast bureau chief for the London Daily Express, Davis was assigned to cover the first U.S. tour by the Fab Four that started with a performance at the Cow Palace in San Francisco on Aug. 19, 1964 and ended Sept. 20, 1964 at the Paramount Theater in New York. From young women bargaining with him to get near John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison or Ringo Starr to the late night Monopoly games (where Lennon was known to cheat), Davis recounts his ticket to ride along with the band on that cross-country trek in his new book “The Beatles and Me On Tour” (Cockney Kid Publishing, $15.99). Davis never planned to write a book on the experience. “When you are a reporter on a daily paper, you do a story and then you forget about it. That’s what happened for years and years,” Davis says. “I didn’t think it was such a big deal, but I would go to a dinner party and people would find out that I toured with The Beatles and they wanted to talk about it.”
Most Beatles fans know stories about John Lennon’s mother Julia, whose early death in 1958 scarred him for life and inspired his music. On his 1970 song Mother, he sang “You had me but I never had you”. But Kevin Roach says many don’t know the true story – and he hopes his new interactive book, Julia, will set the record straight. Walton-born Kevin, who has already written about George Harrison and Paul McCartney, wanted to tell the hidden story of John’s roots rather than repeating stories of John’s fame. He says that the idea of Julia as an irresponsible “good-time girl” who couldn’t look after her son came from Aunt Mimi, who raised John in her house in Menlove Avenue. But over time a more nuanced portrait of Julia has emerged, helped by John’s half-sister Julia Baird publishing her story in Imagine This in 2007. So Kevin decided to produce a book dedicated to Julia Lennon, delving into Liverpool’s archives to learn her family history and speaking to Julia Baird and others who knew John and his mother.
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We’re coming to the end of the school summer holidays here in the UK (and our unfortunately short summer!). Lots of you will have noticed the additional noise, chaos and excitement that summer brings when school’s out! It’s certainly a very exciting time and really does seem to last forever through the eyes of a child. It’s a shame that the older you get, the shorter those precious months become!
August’s question for ‘You Gave Me The Answer’ comes from Donna Simmons in the US who asks… “As a child, what was your favourite holiday and why?” We caught up with Paul recently to find out. He replied,
The GRAMMY Foundation and MusiCares Foundation — the affiliated charities of The Recording Academy — announced that their respective Boards have elected new officers and members. The new GRAMMY Foundation Board officers are Chair Tim Bucher, CEO, Lyve Minds Inc.; Vice Chair Geoff Cottrill, chief marketing officer, Converse; and Secretary/Treasurer Rachna Bhasin, senior vice president of corporate strategy and business development, SiriusXM Radio. The new Chair Emeritus is Rusty Rueff, venture startup investor and advisor. Ryan Seacrest, TV and radio host/producer, continues in his role as Honorary Chair of the GRAMMY Foundation Board.
