Celebrity

Elton John, 75 Rocks Dodger Stadium For the Very Last Time

Published

1 year ago

2022-11-22

Elton John took the stage at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles in a sequined-studded baseball uniform as the world’s biggest pop star 47 years ago on Sunday night, dressed in a bedazzled Dodgers bathrobe, a uniform more fitting for a 75-year-old man on the verge of retirement.

The crowd of more than 50,000 erupted, which occurred in the final minutes of John’s final North American tour.

He stated, “I want to spend time with my family because I’ll be 76 next year.” “I want to show you why I’m retiring by bringing them out.”

He embraced and kissed his husband, David Furnish, while his two sons, 11-year-old Zachary and 9-year-old Elijah, waved gleefully at the crowd in matching Dodgers jackets with “Elton” on the back.

The inevitable final song that gave the tour its name, “Goodbye Yellow Brick Road,” was then performed by John.

The crowd, full of rocket men and rocket women, blue jean babies and LA ladies, many John’s age but plenty in their 20s, 30s, and 40s, swayed and sang along to songs like “Rocket Man” and “Tiny Dancer” throughout the two-hour show. Some wiped away their tears.

Many were dressed up in sequins and spangles, sparkling spectacles, top hats, feather boas, and, in a few cases, Donald Duck suits, representing different eras of John’s 55-year career.

“Thank you all for dressing up,” John said, “it makes me so happy when you all wear the best costumes.”

When the last song finished, John removed his robe to reveal another retirement outfit, a green-and-red tracksuit, and climbed into a small, clear elevator that lifted him into a gap in the backdrop.

On a massive video screen, he could then be seen walking down a yellow brick road in the distance. Many others came to support Elton John on this special day.

Kiki Dee performed their duet “Don’t Go Breaking My Heart.”

“This woman was here with me in 1975, and we sang this song,” John explained as he brought out Dee. “I invited her to recreate that incredible moment.”

As his rehearsal piano player Adam Chester pounded the keys in his place, John jumped from his usual keyboard spot, grabbed a mic, and sang and danced with Dee.

In honour of the four bandmates who died during his career, John performed “Don’t Let the Sun Go Down on Me,” After the first verse, he introduced another guest, shouting, “ladies and gentlemen, Brandi Carlile!”

The moment was an unspoken tribute to another late collaborator, George Michael, who performed the song with Elton John in the same way in 1991.

Carlile, who played an important role in Joni Mitchell’s recent return to the stage, was dressed in her Dodger-themed spangled suit. As John wrapped his arm around her and soaked in the applause, she belted out her verses and made a “can you believe this?!” face to the crowd.

A drum machine pounded as Dua Lipa, dressed in a black gown that contrasted with everyone else’s sparkles, took the stage for the first of the encores, “Cold Heart,” her 2021 hit with John.

“I can’t tell you how it feels to be 75 years old and have the world’s No. 1 record,” John said afterwards. “And 52 years ago, this was my very first hit.”

He began playing piano chords and sang, “It’s a little bit funny, this feeling inside,” the opening line to “Your Song” from the 1970s.

“That was your song, Los Angeles!” Elton John exclaimed.

He explained the city’s significance to his music about two hours earlier, after taking the stage in a tuxedo with sequins that flared into a flame design and opening the concert with “Benny and the Jets.”

“All right, this is a very special, emotional night for me, and it’s been a long journey, and I first came here to America in 1970 to the City of Angels, Los Angeles, and I played a club called the Troubadour.”

The concert, live streamed on Disney+, was the last of three nights at the stadium (and his 103rd show in the LA area, he told the crowd). The Farewell Yellow Brick Road tour kicked off in September 2018 with the first of over 300 planned dates. It was halted in 2020 due to the COVID pandemic but resumed in 2021.

John will travel to Australia and New Zealand in January, followed by the United Kingdom and Europe. He’s scheduled to finish in Sweden in July, but he’s made it clear that he’s only done travelling and not making music.

Many of those backing him up have been with him since the beginning, including Nigel Olsson, his drummer since 1969, and Davey Johnstone, his guitarist since 1971, who led the band through a ripping version of “Saturday Night’s Alright for Fighting” at the age of 71.

John also gave a rare on-stage glimpse of an even more long-running collaborator, lyricist Bernie Taupin, who wrote most of the lyrics that the audience sang along with all night.

“We’ve been writing together since 1967,” John said as he hugged Taupin, who, with his bald head and plain, earth-toned coat, couldn’t be more dissimilar to his writing partner. “We still love each other more than we ever have.”

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Celebrity

Photographer Alleges He Was Forced To Watch Megan Thee Stallion Have Sex And Was Unfairly Fired

Published

6 hours ago

2024-04-24

Kiara Grace

AP - VOR News Image

Los Angeles – In a lawsuit filed on Tuesday, a photographer who Megan Thee Stallion employed alleges that he was compelled to witness her engaging in sexual activity, was unjustly terminated shortly after that, and experienced mistreatment as her employee.

People – VOR News Image

Photographer Alleges He Was Forced To Watch Megan Thee Stallion Have Sex And Was Unfairly Fired

Emilio Garcia, in his lawsuit filed in Los Angeles Superior Court, alleges that on a night out in 2022 in Ibiza, Spain, he was present in an SUV with the hip-hop singer when she engaged in sexual activity with another lady near him. He was incapacitated from exiting the moving vehicle, and even if he could do so, he would have found himself stranded in an unfamiliar land. According to the lawsuit, Garcia experienced feelings of embarrassment, mortification, and offense during the entire incident.

Alex Spiro, Megan’s attorney, stated that she intends to contest the complaint through legal proceedings.

“This is a monetary employment claim, without any filed allegations of sexual harassment, but with scandalous accusations aimed at embarrassing her,” Spiro stated.

According to the lawsuit, Megan admonished Garcia the following day, instructing him not to disclose what he witnessed while also criticizing and body-shaming him. The complaint alleges that Garcia, who was experiencing excessive workload, low pay, and a hostile work environment due to Megan’s possessive and abusive behavior, was wrongly categorized as an independent contractor while being treated as an exclusive employee.

According to the lawsuit, Garcia discussed those concerns with Megan during their conversation and was terminated the next day after working for her for four years. Subsequently, he lodged a job discrimination lawsuit with the California Civil Rights Department.

Rolling Stone – VOR News Image

Photographer Alleges He Was Forced To Watch Megan Thee Stallion Have Sex And Was Unfairly Fired

The lawsuit, initially disclosed by NBC News, names Megan, legally known as Megan Pete, her enterprises Megan Thee Stallion Entertainment and Hot Girl Touring and her record label, Roc Nation, as the defendants. No defense answer has been submitted yet. A representative of Roc Nation should have responded more promptly to an email requesting comment.

Garcia is pursuing monetary compensation, which will be assessed during the trial. He claims to have had significant emotional and bodily harm as a result of his treatment at work, his termination, and seeing the incident in the SUV.

Megan, a 29-year-old woman, was previously embroiled in a significant legal controversy. She endured a deluge of online harassment after being shot by rapper Tory Lanez. A jury determined that Lanez had fired at her feet while they were on a street in the Hollywood Hills in 2020. She provided testimony throughout the trial, which led to the conviction of Lanez on three felony charges. Subsequently, a court imposed a 10-year prison sentence on him.

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Photographer Alleges He Was Forced To Watch Megan Thee Stallion Have Sex And Was Unfairly Fired

Megan was already a prominent emerging artist at the time of the shooting and has achieved immense success as one of the most prominent figures in hip-hop. In 2021, she won a Grammy for the best new artist category. Additionally, she attained the top position on the music charts with her tracks “Savage,” featuring Beyoncé, and as a featured artist on Cardi B’s “WAP.”

SOURCE – (AP)

Celebrity

Yoko Ono To Receive Edward MacDowell Medal For Lifetime Achievement

Published

2 days ago

2024-04-22

Kiara Grace

Billboard - VOR News Image

NEW YORK — MacDowell, one of the country’s finest artist residence programs, has honored Yoko Ono with a lifetime achievement award. The trailblazing artist, filmmaker, and musician will receive the Edward MacDowell Medal this year, following in the footsteps of Stephen Sondheim and Toni Morrison, among others.

“There has never been anyone like her; there has never been work like hers,” MacDowell board chairman Nell Painter said in a statement Sunday.

WKNC – VOR News Image

Yoko Ono To Receive Edward MacDowell Medal For Lifetime Achievement

“Over seven decades, she has pleased eyes, aroused mind, encouraged feminism, and supported refugees with imaginative works. Enduringly new and contemporary, her unusually powerful output resonates to our current times, which are in desperate need of her leitmotif: peace.”

In a statement, Ono’s son, Sean Ono Lennon, described the award as “an incredible honor.”

“The history and list of prior awardees are extremely impressive. It makes me very glad to see her work valued and celebrated in this manner,” he remarked.

Art Spar – VOR News Image

Yoko Ono To Receive Edward MacDowell Medal For Lifetime Achievement

Ono, 91, has made few public appearances in recent years and is unlikely to attend the July honors event at the MacDowell campus in Peterborough, New Hampshire. David Newgarden, Ono’s music manager, will receive the award on her behalf.

Ono first rose to prominence as a member of the avant-garde Fluxus movement of the 1960s, before becoming internationally famous after meeting John Lennon, with whom she married from 1969 until his death in 1980. Their many collaborations included the songs “Give Peace a Chance,” “Imagine,” and “Happy Xmas (War Is Over),” which served as the foundation for “War Is Over! Inspired by the Music of John & Yoko,” this year’s Oscar-winning animated short film.

El Pais – VOR News Image

Yoko Ono To Receive Edward MacDowell Medal For Lifetime Achievement

Over the last 40 years, Ono has had a busy career as a visual and recording artist, with albums like “Season of Glass,” “Starpeace,” and “Take Me to the Land of Hell.” She was recently featured in a career retrospective at London’s Tate Modern.

SOURCE – (AP)

Celebrity

Dick Van Dyke Earns Historic Daytime Emmy Nomination At Age 98

Published

3 days ago

2024-04-21

Kiara Grace

AP - VOR News Image

Los Angeles — Dick Van Dyke, 98, is contending for a historic Daytime Emmy.

The actor was nominated Friday as a guest star in a daytime drama series for his role as amnesiac Timothy Robicheaux on Peacock’s “Days of Our Lives.”

Van Dyke is the oldest daytime Emmy nominee. When producer Norman Lear won his final Primetime Emmy nomination in 2022, he was 100 years old. He died the following year.

people – VOR News Image

Dick Van Dyke Earns Historic Daytime Emmy Nomination At Age 98

Van Dyke is up against Guy Pearce, an Australian actor from Amazon Prime Video’s “Neighbours.”

Van Dyke earned four Primetime Emmys, including three in the 1960s, for his legendary comedy series “The Dick Van Dyke Show.”

Selena Gomez, an actor and singer, is nominated in the culinary series category for her Food Network special “Selena + Chef: Home for the Holidays.” The Food Network’s “Valerie’s Home Cooking,” hosted by actor Valerie Bertinelli and which concluded last year, is also nominated in that category.

People – VOR News Image

Dick Van Dyke Earns Historic Daytime Emmy Nomination At Age 98

CBS will cancel “The Talk” after its 15th season later this year. Akbar Gbajabiamila, Amanda Kloots, Natalie Morales, Jerry O’Connell, and Sheryl Underwood were nominated for daytime talk show hosting.

The main actress nominations are Tamara Braun of “Days of Our Lives,” Finola Hughes and Cynthia Watros of “General Hospital,” Katherine Kelly Lang and Annika Noelle of “The Bold and the Beautiful,” and Michelle Stafford of “The Young and the Restless.”

The lead actor nominees include Eric Braeden of “The Young and the Restless,” Scott Clifton, Thorsten Kaye, and John McCook of “The Bold and the Beautiful,” and Eric Martsolf of “Days of Our Lives.”

Womens World – VOR News Image

Dick Van Dyke Earns Historic Daytime Emmy Nomination At Age 98

The Daytime Emmys will be broadcast live on CBS on June 7 in Los Angeles. The show is back to its regular schedule after being postponed until December due to strikes by Hollywood performers and writers. The hosts and Lifetime Achievement award recipients will be announced later.

SOURCE – AP