Things to do in Western Pa.
Looking for some home renovation or decor ideas? Head down to the Washington County Fairgrounds for the annual Washington County Home Show. Have a short story idea rattling around your head? It might be a fit for Parsec Ink’s annual speculative fiction writing contest. Wondering how writers for the “The...
Gabby Barrett welcomes baby girl
Pittsburgh’s celebrity songstress is a new mom. “American Idol” alum and Munhall native Gabby Barrett and husband Cade Foehner welcomed their first child, a baby girl named Baylah May, on Jan. 18. Barrett, 20, updated her fans with the big news in various social media posts including a Twitter post...
Pittsburgh musicians lift their voices for virtual concerts to save local stages
There will be an encore to the single released earlier this month. Western Pennsylvania musicians recorded “SOS 2020,” a song inspired by the Save Our Stages movement to help struggling music venues. It’s a mixture of rock, punk and heavy metal. Next up on the playlist will be a concert...
Westmoreland symphony’s next livestream to feature Cleveland cellistVideo
There is certainly no love lost between Pittsburgh and Cleveland’s football teams. But unless he tries a dirty tackle on the conductor, no one is likely to boo cellist Mark Kosower, even if he does hail from the Browns’ hometown. Kosower, principal cello for the Cleveland Orchestra, will be the...
The Palace Theatre’s VIP livestream concerts showcase local, original music
For Lindsay Dragan, the best part of being a musician is playing in front of a crowd. “That’s when I feel most alive,” she said. There hasn’t been much opportunity for that in the past year, but Dragan and her Pittsburgh-based band at least will be able to get onstage...
City Theatre films singer Jill Sobule’s tale of middle-school angst
Middle school is a tough gig — just ask singer/songwriter Jill Sobule. She poured her experiences into a musical called “F*ck7thGrade” that was presented in its initial form in Pittsburgh at City Theatre Company’s 2018 Momentum Festival of New Plays. Now, City Theatre will premiere a concert film of the...
Jazmine Sullivan, Eric Church, H.E.R. to sing at Super Bowl
NEW YORK — R&B star Jazmine Sullivan and country singer Eric Church will join forces to sing the national anthem at the next month’s Super Bowl, where Grammy-winning singer H.E.R. will perform “America the Beautiful.” The performances will take place Feb. 7 at the Raymond James Stadium in Tampa before...
NASCAR to hold pre-race Daytona 500 concert with Luke Combs
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — NASCAR will attempt some normalcy at the season-opening Daytona 500 with a live pre-race concert — the first big performance at a track during the pandemic — featuring country music star Luke Combs. Combs, who performed virtually for NASCAR’s season finale in November, has not done a...
Heavy metal guitarist photographed at Capitol riot charged
INDIANAPOLIS — A heavy metal guitarist who was photographed with the mob that stormed the U.S. Capitol and is accused of spraying police officers with a pepper-based bear spray irritant has been arrested, the FBI said. Jon Ryan Schaffer turned himself in Sunday after he was featured on an FBI...
Garth Brooks joins lineup of entertainers at Biden inaugural
Add Garth Brooks to the lineup of entertainers at the inauguration of President-elect Joe Biden. “This is a great day in our household,” the country music superstar said during a virtual press conference Monday, two days before Biden is to be sworn in. “This is not a political statement. This...
Phil Spector, famed music producer and murderer, dies at 81
LOS ANGELES — Phil Spector, the eccentric and revolutionary music producer who transformed rock music with his “Wall of Sound” method and who later was convicted of murder, has died. He was 81. California state prison officials said he died Saturday of natural causes at a hospital. Spector was convicted...
Lady Gaga to sing anthem at Biden’s inauguration
Joe Biden’s Inaugural Committee announced today that Lady Gaga and Jennifer Lopez will appear during his Jan. 20 swearing-in ceremony at the Capitol. Lady Gaga will sing the national anthem while Lopez will provide a musical performance. Biden will be sworn in as the 46th president of the United States...
Pittsburgh Opera postpones 1st-ever staging of Handel’s ‘Semele’
Pittsburgh Opera has postponed its first-ever production of George Frideric Handel’s “Semele” from February to May. The move was made “in response to ongoing covid-19 concerns, including high cases in Allegheny County and the slower-than-hoped-for vaccine rollout,” the opera said. “Semele” will be performed on six dates, May 8-20, at...
Apollo teen songwriter finds success in national competitions
Music always came naturally to Jessa Pontier. The 18-year-old Apollo resident said she started singing when she 2 while banging on a toy piano. She could play a real piano by the time she was 6, and taught herself to play guitar around 10 or 11 — never taking any...
Unity native, Broadway vet Jerad Bortz stays thankful after life-changing accidentVideo
Going into 2018, Unity native Jerad Bortz had a lot to be thankful for, not the least of which was a successful career on Broadway, including 12 years with the hit musical “Wicked.” That could have changed forever in early February of that year, when a car accident left him...
Dr. Dre recovering after being admitted into hospital
LOS ANGELES — Dr. Dre says he will be “back home soon” after the music mogul received medical treatment at a Los Angeles hospital for a reported brain aneurysm. The rapper and producer said in a social media post Tuesday night that he’s thankful for the “well wishes.” TMZ reported...
Reports: Dr. Dre rushed to ICU as a result of suffering brain aneurysmVideo
Rap legend Dr. Dre was rushed to an intensive care unit as a result of suffering a brain aneurysm, according to TMZ. Dre, whose legal name is Andre Young, was rushed Monday to Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles where sources told the outlet he is “stable and lucid.” Dre...
Grammy Awards shift to March because of pandemic conditions
NEW YORK — The 2021 Grammy Awards will no longer take place this month in Los Angeles and will broadcast in March due to a recent surge in coronavirus cases and deaths. The Recording Academy told The Associated Press on Tuesday that the annual show would shift from its original...
IRS says executors undervalued Prince’s estate by 50%
The ongoing controversy over the money left behind by Prince when he died without a will is heating up again after Internal Revenue Service calculations showed that executors of the rock star’s estate undervalued it by 50%, or about $80 million. The IRS determined that Prince’s estate is worth $163.2...
Pittsburgh musicians raise their voices off stage to save local venuesVideo
Musicians communicate through song. They feed off the energy of live performances. Many haven’t performed live for months because of the pandemic. That hasn’t kept them from making new music for when they return to Pittsburgh-area venues. There is one tune that’s about to be heard that will help the...
Being Judy Garland won Zellweger an Oscar — is a Grammy next?Video
Renée Zellweger is known for acting but you could easily write a thesis about her love for music. The entertainer won her second Academy Award for portraying Judy Garland in last year’s “Judy,” for which Zellweger did her own singing in front of live audiences. She was praised for her...
A record 39 holiday songs dominate Billboard Hot 100 chart
Tis the season to be jolly: A record 39 holiday songs have dominated this week’s Billboard Hot 100 chart, including nine holiday tunes in the Top 10. Mariah Carey’s ubiquitous hit, “All I Want for Christmas Is You,” leads the pack at No. 1 — marking the tune’s fifth time...
Jason Mraz to headline Rock, Reggae & Relief benefit concertVideo
There is hope that live music is coming back in 2021. Rock, Reggae & Relief, a festival benefiting hospitality workers and food insecurity, has announced a lineup of artists. It’s scheduled for Aug. 28. “We feel safe that, by then, most people will have taken the (covid) vaccine, and it’s...
Federal covid relief bill includes ‘Save Our Stages’ funding for independent music venues, promotersVideo
Independent music venue owners across the U.S. got their first good news in quite some time on Monday with the announcement the
$900 billion federal covid-19 relief bill will include $15 billion as part of the Save Our Stages Act. If it is signed by President Trump — a move...
How Dionne Warwick, the Queen of Smooth Pop, has become the Queen of Twitter
Dionne Warwick: first Black female solo pop star who rose to prominence in the ’60s, Queen of Smooth Pop and a living legend. Nowadays, you can refer to her as Dionne The Singer (her words she posted, hehe), but her newest honorific title is our undisputed Queen of Twitter. Here’s...
