entertainment

Connie Evingson performs tonight at Crooners Lounge

Hibbing native Connie Evingson will be performing tonight at Crooners Lounge in Fridley. That's one of your many musical options this New Year's Eve.




entertainment

Remembering Daryl Dragon

Daryl Dragon, better known as the Captain in the Captain and Tennille, died Wednesday at the age of 76.




entertainment

Twin Cities hip-hop pioneers I.R.M Crew to reunite

The I-R-M Crew -- the first Twin Cities hip-hop group to release an album in the mid-1980s -- reunites for a performance Friday night at the 7th Street Entry in Minneapolis.




entertainment

Dom Flemons presents a new image of the American cowboy

The singer-songwriter's latest album, "Black Cowboys," chronicles the role played by African-Americans in settling the West after the Civil War. The album has been nominated for a Grammy.




entertainment

Steven Heitzeg composition to be sung at inaugural

"O, Colored Earth" by Minnesota composer Steven Heitzeg was performed by the Minneapolis Youth Chorus during the inauguration ceremony Monday at the Fitzgerald Theater in downtown St. Paul.




entertainment

'Baby Shark' has crashed into the pop charts. How did it get there?

The uber-viral children's song "Baby Shark" landed in the top 40 of the Billboard charts this week, years after it debuted on YouTube.




entertainment

St. Paul Peterson releases new music

He'll be playing a record release show Friday night at Icehouse in Minneapolis.




entertainment

Documentary shows 'perception and reality' of infamous concert flop

In 2017, the Fyre Music Festival was billed as an exclusive event in the Bahamas. The reality was very different. Director Chris Smith tells the behind-the-scenes story in a new Netflix documentary.




entertainment

Beautiful! Carole King makes surprise appearance in Broadway show

Anything can happen in live theater, and audience members seeing "Beautiful," the life story of Carole King, got a surprise when King appeared in the role of herself to celebrate the show's fifth anniversary on Broadway.




entertainment

Twin Cities music legend Willie Murphy dies at 75

Murphy was part of the Minnesota music scene for decades, and fronted the band Willie and the Bees. "One of my main crusades (is) to get people to dance," Murphy told MPR News in 2009.




entertainment

For many with disabilities, 'Let It Go' is an anthem of acceptance

The breakout song from Disney's "Frozen" has inspired many marginalized groups -- but its message of rejecting stigma holds special resonance for disabled people and their families.




entertainment

Latest tour takes Minnesota Orchestra 3 miles north

Musicians hope their visits to north Minneapolis will result in lasting relationships.




entertainment

'Proud Mary' released 50 years ago

John Fogerty wrote the song shortly after being discharged from the National Guard.




entertainment

Sixty years later, remembering 'The Day the Music Died'

Sixty years ago this week, the Winter Dance Party concert tour was crisscrossing Minnesota and neighboring states, featuring Ritchie Valens, J.P. "the Big Bopper" Richardson and Buddy Holly. Then came "The Day the Music Died."




entertainment

Five things to watch for in Super Bowl LIII

Sunday's Super Bowl pits the New England Patriots against the Los Angeles Rams. LA's talent-packed offense gives New England's head coach Bill Belichick a tough choice on who to target.




entertainment

Buddy Holly's hometown looks back, 60 years after 'The Day the Music Died'

"He sang strictly country," said Larry Byers, a former DJ in Lubbock, Texas, who heard Buddy Holly's early performances. "Until he saw Elvis Presley and decided that maybe he should change his style a bit."




entertainment

Bobbie Gentry's 'The Delta Sweete' gets a much-belated tribute

Back in 1967, Bobbie Gentry sang a haunting ode to young love and sad endings in the deep South called "Ode to Billie Joe." A year later, Gentry released a country-rock opera, "The Delta Sweete." It hardly sold at all — but has since become a cult classic.




entertainment

Kacey Musgraves and Childish Gambino win top awards at Grammys

No single artist dominated, but over the course of a night in which a handful of artists won major awards, a thread became clear: The Academy was attempting to make amends for past mistakes.




entertainment

An Italian town fell silent so the sounds of a Stradivarius could be preserved

The mayor of Cremona, Italy, blocked traffic during five weeks of recording and asked residents to please keep quiet so master musicians could play four instruments -- note by note -- for posterity.




entertainment

Dominick Argento, Pulitzer Prize-winning composer, dead at 91

Pulitzer Prize-winning composer Dominick Argento died Wednesday. He was 91. Known for his eclectic range of work, he composed operas such as "Casanova's Homecoming", "The Dream of Valentino" and "Miss Havisham's Fire."




entertainment

Peter Tork, Monkees' lovable bass-guitar player, dead at 77

Peter Tork, who studied at Carleton College in Northfield and later rose to teen-idol fame in 1966 playing the lovably clueless bass guitarist in the made-for-television rock band The Monkees, has died. He was 77.




entertainment

R. Kelly ordered jailed on $1M bond at Chicago hearing

A judge on Saturday gave R. Kelly a chance to go free while the R&B star awaits trial on charges that he sexually abused four people, including three minors, in a case that seemed likely to produce another #MeToo reckoning for a celebrity.




entertainment

R. Kelly out on bail in sexual abuse case

R&B star R. Kelly has been released from jail after posting the required bail of $100,000 -- 10 percent of the bond. He entered a not-guilty plea Monday in response to being charged with 10 counts of aggravated criminal sexual abuse.




entertainment

R. Kelly calls accusers 'liars' in sex abuse case

The singer, out on bail following his Feb. 22 arrest in Chicago, said he has done "lots of things wrong" when it comes to women, but said he has apologized. He denies doing anything against their will.




entertainment

R. Kelly goes back to jail, takes risks with TV interview

A spokesperson for the Cook County Sheriff's Office said Kelly would not be released from jail until he pays the full child-support debt. His next hearing was scheduled for March 13.




entertainment

Nat King Cole remains 'one of the great gifts of nature'

Born 100 years ago today, Nat King Cole topped the charts year after year, sold more than 50 million records, pushed jazz piano in a new direction and paved the way for later generations of performers.




entertainment

At 83, Mary Lane upholds the blues tradition: 'I still got it'

The Arkansas-born blues singer looks back on her career and discusses "Travelin' Woman," her first album in more than 20 years.




entertainment

Dick Dale, 'King of Surf Guitar,' dies at 81

Dick Dale, whose pounding, blaringly loud power-chord instrumentals on songs like "Miserlou" and "Let's Go Trippin'" earned him the title "King of the Surf Guitar," has died at age 81.




entertainment

How "God Bless America" became a hit

80 years ago Kate Smith recorded what would become her signature song "God Bless America." The original version was written in 1918 by Irving Berlin. He re-worked the lyrics a bit and when Smith sang it on her nationally-syndicated radio show, it became an immediate hit.




entertainment

Need a can't-miss wheel of cheese? Try playing it some hip-hop

Researchers exposed cheese to different genres of music for 24 hours a day over six months to find out that hip-hop might create the tastiest cheese.




entertainment

Jenny Lewis performs new album in Twin Cities this week

Thursday afternoon she'll be playing in the intimate Clown Lounge under the Turf Club. Then Friday night she'll be at the Palace Theatre in downtown St. Paul.




entertainment

Rolling Stones postpone tour as Jagger receives medical treatment

The Rolling Stones are postponing their latest tour so Mick Jagger can receive medical treatment.




entertainment

Officials say rapper Nipsey Hussle shot and killed at 33

Nipsey Hussle, a respected rapper who earned a Grammy nomination this year for his major-label debut, was fatally shot outside his clothing store, authorities said.




entertainment

Bob Dylan whiskey distillery to open fall 2020 in Nashville

A news release says Heaven's Door Spirits will transform a 160-year-old church into the Heaven's Door Distillery and Center for the Arts, featuring the distillery, a whiskey library, a restaurant and a 360-seat live performance venue.




entertainment

White singers in Hungary claim to be African-American, for an opera

The Gershwin estate stipulates that "Porgy and Bess" should be performed by an all-black cast. The Hungarian State Opera in Budapest reportedly asked its mostly white cast to say that they are black.




entertainment

Cellist Yo-Yo Ma plays Bach in shadow of border crossing

The world-renowned cellist brought his Bach Project to the sister cities of Laredo, Texas, and Nuevo Laredo, Mexico, on Saturday.




entertainment

Beyoncé surprise drops live Coachella album, Netflix doc now streaming

The recording of her historic 2018 performance, titled Homecoming: Live Album, includes new songs and arrives just as a documentary of the concert begins streaming on Netflix.




entertainment

Art Hounds: Globally infused banjo tunes on 'Intermodal Blues'

Plus, Art Hounds recommend an ice-skating performance inspired by black social dances and an Earth Day singalong with Dan Chouinard.




entertainment

Billy Bragg's three-night stand in Minneapolis

British singer/songwriter Billy Bragg is in Minneapolis for his "One Step Forward, Two Steps Back" tour. On each stop of the tour he is playing three nights.




entertainment

After the fire, assessing the future of Notre Dame's centuries-old organ

Chief organist Olivier Latry shares recordings of music played on Notre Dame Cathedral's famed organ — and looks ahead to the church's extensive renovation process after the fire on April 15.




entertainment

Prince memoir 'The Beautiful Ones' coming out in the fall

"'The Beautiful Ones' is the deeply personal account of how Prince Rogers Nelson became the Prince we know: the real-time story of a kid absorbing the world around him and creating a persona, an artistic vision, and a life, before the hits and the fame that would come to define him," Random House announced.




entertainment

An album from Prince's vault, and his memoir, are coming

The Prince estate has announced plans to release Originals, another album of previously unreleased tracks -- many of which were hits for other artists -- he recorded between 1981 and 1991.




entertainment

MN Orchestra's Vanska to hold concurrent role in Seoul

It's not unusual for music directors to serve multiple orchestras at one time.




entertainment

Morning Edition debuts the show's updated theme music

NPR's David Greene and Rachel Martin look back at famous theme songs from pop culture, and remember the old Morning Edition theme as the show debuts the updated version of the song.




entertainment

Madonna, Prince and the pope

Madonna was back on top of the charts 30 years ago this week with her most controversial song to that point in her career. "Like a Prayer" was a mashup of religion and sexuality.




entertainment

SPCO forced to make cutbacks after loss of corporate funding

The St. Paul Chamber Orchestra is facing a loss of corporate funding and will stop sponsoring a contemporary chamber music series and pre-concert discussions starting next season.




entertainment

Orchestra finds child who charmed crowd with 'wow!'

A performing arts group has found the child who was literally wowed by a recent classical music concert.




entertainment

Cuban diva Omara Portuondo feels as strong as ever on 'Last Kiss' world tour

Now 88 years old, Cuba's musical matriarch wants to perform for audiences until she dies. "What I have left to live for is smiles," Portuondo says.




entertainment

Legendary actress and singer Doris Day dead at 97

The Doris Day Animal Foundation confirmed Day died early Monday at her Carmel Valley, Calif., home. The foundation said she was surrounded by close friends.




entertainment

Lil Nas X's 'Old Town Road' video is here to lasso the yeehaw agenda

Folks, the yeehaw agenda has reached its absolute apex. Chris Rock, Rico Nasty, Vince Staples, Diplo and, of course, Billy Ray Cyrus guest in the video for the smash hit.