Categories
Music

The business of Prince continues.

Prince’s Digital Catalog Returning to Streaming Music

Prince’s digital catalog is heading back to streaming services like Spotify and Apple Music after over 18 months as an exclusive to Tidal, multiple sources have confirmed.

A majority of the musician’s catalog will be available on Sunday to coincide with the Grammys’ tribute to the singer, though it is unclear exactly when the catalog will be available.

Prince pulled his music from the major streaming services in June 2015. A month later, he aligned with Jay Z’s Tidal, offering the service his “Baltimore” and then-upcoming LP Hit n Run, as well as the exclusive streaming rights of his back catalog and other goodies from his legendary vaults. A surprise second new LP, Hit n Run Phase Two, arrived in December 2015.

“After one meeting, it was obvious that Jay Z and the team he has assembled at Tidal recognize and applaud the effort that real musicians put in2 their craft 2 achieve the very best they can at this pivotal time in the music industry,” Prince said of his Tidal deal.

However, four months after Hit N Run Phase Two landed, Prince died unexpectedly at his Paisley Park compound, leaving his estate without specified heirs or an appointed executor. Placed under the administration of a Minnesota bank as well as Prince’s siblings, the estate would later establish a publishing deal with Universal Music for Prince’s catalog, a pact that threatened Prince’s Tidal agreement.

The fissure in the relationship between the Prince estate and Jay Z’s Tidal and parent company Roc Nation was further exposed in November, when the two sides went to court to determine whether Tidal held the exclusive rights to Prince’s digital catalog following the late icon’s death; in a separate action, the Prince estate sued Tidal for streaming 15 Prince albums without permission.

The estate also argued that Tidal never had an exclusivity deal with Prince in writing, and that the streaming service didn’t make good on a $750,000 advance owed to the singer. In Tidal’s suit, the service accused the Prince estate of secretly negotiating with other streaming services.

While the lawsuits continue to play out in court, a judge subsequently ruled on January 30th that Tidal and Roc Nation did in fact pay $3 million to Prince as part of his initial deal with the streaming service, including the $750,000 that the estate called into question.

Following Universal’s acquisition of Prince’s publishing rights, the estate reopened dialogue with services like Spotify and Apple Music, with a target of reintroducing the catalog in time for the Grammys. Amazon Music and IHeartRadio also confirmed that music from Prince’s catalog will be available on their services, with the latter offering the catalog on new subscription services iHeartRadio Plus and iHeartRadio All Access.

Before any deals between the streaming services and the estate were officially announced, Spotify not-so-subtly began trumpeting the arrival of Prince’s catalog in late January with a series of purple billboards in New York’s Union Square subway station.

Last October, Warner Bros. and NPG Records announced the releases of a remastered version of Purple Rain and the greatest hits collection Prince 4Ever. The latter, released last November, included “Moonbeam Levels,” a previously unreleased song recorded in 1982 during the 1999 sessions.

On Thursday, the singer’s estate announced an agreement with Universal Music Group to release his music recorded after 1995 alongside music from his vault, including outtakes, demos and live recordings.

Categories
People

This is very, very sad and shocking news. May he rest in peace.

Mike Ilitch, owner of Red Wings, Tigers, dead at 87

Mike Ilitch, founder of the Little Caesars Pizza empire and owner of the Detroit Red Wings and the Detroit Tigers, has died. He was 87.

Ilitch, who was praised for keeping his professional hockey and baseball teams in Detroit as other urban sports franchises relocated to new suburban stadiums, died Friday at a hospital in Detroit, according to family spokesman Doug Kuiper.

“He made such a positive impact in the world of sports, in business and in the community, and we will remember him for his unwavering commitment to his employees, his passion for Detroit, his generosity to others and his devotion to his family and friends,” his son Christopher Ilitch said in the statement Friday night.

Ilitch and his wife, Marian, founded Little Caesars in suburban Detroit in 1959, and eventually grew the business into the world’s largest carry-out pizza chain with several spin-off companies. Under his ownership and open checkbook, the Red Wings soared back to stability and won four Stanley Cup championships, and the Tigers — who’d scouted a young Ilitch in the 1940s — made it to the World Series.

He was as much a fan of the often-struggling Detroit as he was of sports. When approached in 2009 by organizers of the Motor City Bowl in Detroit, Ilitch agreed to sponsor the annual college football bowl game despite a poor local economy. The game was renamed the Little Caesars Pizza Bowl.

“It’s a sporting event, and we need sporting events,” Ilitch said at the time. “It picks our community up to no end, with all the great colleges we have in this state and the professional teams that we have. Thank God for `em, especially at times that are rough right now.”

The son of Macedonian immigrants, Ilitch was born on July 20, 1929. He played baseball at Detroit’s Cooley High School and was signed by his hometown Tigers after his four-year stint in the U.S. Marines, spending three years in the team’s farm system before a knee injury ended his playing career.

But he found his niche in business. His family’s companies had combined revenues of $2.4 billion in 2011.

It started with that first Little Caesars restaurant in Garden City, a working-class suburb west of Detroit. A food service distribution company soon followed to supply ingredients and other products for the growing number of restaurants. Blue Line Foodservice grew into one of the largest program account food service distribution companies in the U.S.

Ilitch Holdings Inc. was established in 1999 to manage the family’s interests in food, sports and entertainment, and the company remained family focused. His son, Christopher, was president and CEO, while his wife, Marian, was vice chairwoman as well as sole owner of MotorCity Casino, one of Detroit’s three casinos.

Ilitch broke into sports ownership in 1982, when he paid a reported $8 million for the struggling Red Wings. Once a National Hockey League powerhouse, the team had bottomed out to mediocrity, but it began winning again under Ilitch. The Red Wings took home the Stanley Cup in 1997, 1998, 2002 and 2008.

Ilitch was inducted into the NHL Hockey Hall of Fame in 2003, and into the U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame and Michigan Sports Hall of Fame a year later.

“Mr. and Mrs. Ilitch are incredibly passionate about Detroit and their teams,” Red Wings general manager Ken Holland told The Associated Press in a 2010 interview. “They create a family atmosphere with stability, loyalty and a personal touch. But we all understand we have to produce to be around for a long time.”

As part of his long-term plan to build a Detroit-based business empire, Ilitch also bought Olympia Entertainment, which manages several restaurants, sports and entertainment venues, in 1982.

Husband and wife bought the downtown Fox Theatre five years later and started a massive, $12 million restoration. It reopened a year later and became a lucrative venue for musicals, plays and other productions. The Little Caesars world headquarters also was moved downtown.

Then, in 1992, the man who once dreamed of playing for the Detroit Tigers bought the team for $85 million. He moved it in 2000 from the storied but fading Tiger Stadium to Comerica Park, across from the Fox Theatre.

Unlike previous owners of both sports franchises, Ilitch opened his checkbook to sign top players — finding solid success in hockey, and a rollercoaster in baseball.

The Tigers lost an American League record 119 games in 2003, but advanced to the World Series three years later, losing in five games to the St. Louis Cardinals. Near the end of a disappointing 2008 season, Ilitch said he and the team would review everything done to put the roster together but focusing on the $138 million payroll wasn’t the priority.

“I’m not afraid to go out and spend money,” he said. “It’s been very costly, but I’m not going to change my ways.”

The Tigers made the American League playoffs in 2011, a return to winning that brought more fans to Comerica Park.

Tigers general manager Dave Dombrowski said Ilitch was simply driven to win.

“He has a good feel for sports, baseball in particular, and that’s always good when you’re working for someone like that,” Dombrowski said in 2010, shortly after Ilitch announced he would try to buy the Detroit Pistons. Ilitch had jumped in amid speculation another buyer might move the pro basketball team.

“When I read in the paper there was the chance that this great sports town could lose one of its professional sports franchises, I just didn’t see how we could let that happen,” Ilitch told The Associated Press in 2010. “The Pistons, just like the Red Wings, Tigers and the (Detroit) Lions, have a rich and storied tradition in this community.”

California billionaire and Michigan State University graduate Tom Gores eventually bought the Pistons and kept the team at its stadium in Auburn Hills, north of Detroit.

Ilitch’s admiration of Detroit also was put on display in 2009, when General Motors — struggling under the threat of bankruptcy — discontinued its sponsorship of the popular General Motors Fountain at Comerica Park. Instead of selling the space to other bidders, Ilitch gave the advertising spot to each of the area’s car companies that season at no cost.

“He cares about the city of Detroit. This is something he wanted to do. It’s for the Big Three,” Ron Colangelo, the Tigers’ spokesman, said at the time.

Philanthropy always was a major focus. In 1985, he established the Little Caesars Love Kitchen, a restaurant on wheels to feed the hungry and help with food distribution following national disasters.

Ilitch founded the Little Caesars Veterans Program in 2006 to provide honorably discharged veterans the chance to own a Little Caesars franchise, and his Ilitch Charities invests in programs promoting economic and job growth. Contributions, sponsorships and in-kind donations from the Ilitch companies total more than $4 million per year.

Ilitch is survived by his wife, seven children and numerous grandchildren.

Categories
People

She has definitely earned it!

Aretha Franklin: ‘I am retiring this year’

Soul legend Aretha Franklin plans to retire following the release of her next album later this year.

The Respect singer, who began her career in the 1960s, revealed during an interview with Detroit TV station WDIV Local 4 that she will soon be recording an album and after its release around September, she would be retiring.

“I must tell you, I am retiring this year,” she said. “This will be my last year… I will be recording, but this will be my last year in concert. This is it.”

She said the decision was bittersweet because it’s “what I’ve done all of my life” but she wants to spend more time with her grandchildren before they go off to college.

However, the 74-year-old isn’t going to stop working altogether and will still book select engagements.

“I feel very, very enriched and satisfied with respect to where my career came from, and where it is now,” she explained. “I’ll be pretty much satisfied, but I’m not going to go anywhere and just sit down and do nothing. That wouldn’t be good either.”

In recent years, the singer has cut down on her performance schedule due to her age and ill health. In 2010, she had to cancel shows when she underwent emergency abdominal surgery and she later revealed she had a tumour removed.

Speaking of her upcoming album, which will be recorded in Detroit, Michigan and largely produced by Stevie Wonder, Aretha said she “can’t wait to get in the studio”. The songs will all be originals and the music will go in several different directions, she added, saying, “We’re not pigeonholed to any one thing.”

She is planning to go on a small tour in support of the album but she won’t perform more than once a month and the tour will only last “maybe for six months.”

Categories
Lawsuits

I hope they win!!

Spinal Tap Members “Go to 11” with $400 Million Lawsuit over Unpaid Royalties

Last year, Harry Shearer claimed he was owed a great deal of Spinal Tap royalties and announced he was suing Vivendi and StudioCanal for some $125 million USD. As if that weren’t large enough, the rest of the Spinal Tap crew has signed on, ballooning the lawsuit to $400 million.

According to the Guardian, Shearer has been joined by bandmates Michael McKean and Christopher Guest, as well as This Is Spinal Tap director Rob Reiner.

The group allege that Vivendi manipulated accounting data while ignoring other accounting and reporting processes in order to fudge the numbers.

The Spinal Tap creators were contractually obligated to a 40 percent stake in profits, but Vivendi reported that the film only made $98 in soundtrack sales and $81 in merchandise sales between 1989 and 2006.

“The deliberate obfuscation by Vivendi and its subsidiaries is an outrage,” Christopher Guest said in a statement. “It is vital that such behaviour is challenged in the strongest way possible.”

Reiner added, “Fair reward for artistic endeavour has long been raised by those on the wrong end of the equation. What makes this case so egregious is the prolonged and deliberate concealment of profit and the purposeful manipulation of revenue allocation between various Vivendi subsidiaries — to the detriment of the creative talent behind the band and film…. Such anti-competitive practices need to be exposed. I am hoping this lawsuit goes to 11.”

As for McKean, he said, “This Is Spinal Tap was the result of four very stubborn guys working very hard to create something new under the sun. The movie’s influence on the last three decades of film comedy is something we are very proud of. But the buck always stopped somewhere short of Rob, Harry, Chris and myself. It’s time for a reckoning. It’s only right.”

In addition to the lawsuit, Shearer has also addressed this issue via a website called Fairness Rocks. Stay tuned for more details on the case as they unfold.

Categories
Awards

I used to know every song and nominee but I don’t anymore.

Juno Awards 2017: Drake, Shawn Mendes, The Weeknd lead nominees

Drake, The Weeknd, Shawn Mendes and Alessia Cara lead the race for the 2017 Juno Awards, topping the list of nominees announced today for Canada’s annual music prize.

Rapper Drake, R&B singer The Weeknd and singer-songwriter Mendes garnered five nominations each, while singer Cara and the late Leonard Cohen followed with four nods.

The Tragically Hip also earned multiple nominations, including for group of the year and rock album of the year for Man Machine Poem.

Hip frontman Gord Downie earned separate nods as songwriter of the year and for best video, while his solo project, Secret Path, is up for best adult alternative album and recording package of the year.

Organizers have also tapped some of this year’s high-profile nominees to perform, including Cara, Mendes, the Strumbellas, Ruth B and A Tribe Called Red.

The annual awards show is in Ottawa this year. A week of festivities will precede the live awards broadcast on April 2.

Michael Bublé was announced last fall as the 2017 ceremony’s host, and is returning to the gig he first took on to rave reviews in 2013.

However, his participation has been in question since it was announced his toddler son was undergoing cancer treatment.

Categories
Awards

Congratulations to all of the nominees!!

2017 JUNO Award Nominees

Indigenous Music Album of the Year
Fish Out Of Water
Crystal Shawanda
Round Dance & Beats (Powwow)
Bryden Gwiss Kiwenzie
Tiny Hands
Quantum Tangle
Debut
Silla + Rise
Earthly Days
William Prince

JUNO Fan Choice Award
Hedley
Justin Bieber
Drake
Shawn Mendes
Alessia Cara
Belly
Ruth B
The Weeknd
Tory Lanez
The Strumbellas

Single of the Year
Treat You Better
Shawn Mendes
One Dance ft. Wizkid & Kyla
Drake
Wild Things
Alessia Cara
Starboy ft. Daft Punk
The Weeknd
Spirits
The Strumbellas

International Album of the Year
This is Acting
Sia
ANTI
Rihanna
Made in the A.M.
One Direction
A Head Full of Dreams
Coldplay
Dangerous Woman
Ariana Grande

Album of the Year
Starboy
The Weeknd
Illuminate
Shawn Mendes
You Want It Darker
Leonard Cohen
Views
Drake
Encore un Soir
Céline Dion

Artist of the Year
Shawn Mendes
Drake
Alessia Cara
Leonard Cohen
The Weeknd

Group of the Year
Billy Talent
The Tragically Hip
Arkells
Tegan and Sara
The Strumbellas

Breakthrough Artist of the Year
KAYTRANADA
Ruth B
Tory Lanez
Andy Shauf
Jazz Cartier

Breakthrough Group of the Year
Bleeker
Cold Creek County
Bob Moses
The Zolas
The Dirty Nil

Songwriter of the Year
“Leaving Nashville” – co-songwriter Abe Stoklasa THE DRIVER – Charles Kelly Capitol*Universal “What Kind of Love is That” – co-songwriter Tom Douglas, “They Don’t Make Anything in That Town” HARD SETTLE, AIN’T TROUBLED – Donovan Woods
Donovan Woods
“Boyfriend” – co-songwriter Greg Kurstin, “100x” – co-songwriter Jesse Shatkin, “Stop Desire” LOVE YOU TO DEATH – Tegan and Sara
Tegan Quin and Sara Quin
“The Stranger”, The Only Place To Be”, “Son” SECRET PATH – Gord Downie
Gord Downie
“You Want It Darker”, It Seemed the Better Way”, “Traveling Light” YOU WANT IT DARKER – Leonard Cohen
Leonard Cohen
“Lost Boy”, “Superficial Love”, “2 Poor Kids” THE INTRO – Ruth B
Ruth Berhe

Country Album of the Year
The Score
Aaron Pritchett
Hearts on Fire
Chad Brownlee
Side Effects
Dallas Smith
Tin Roof
Gord Bamford
Kiss Me Quiet
Jess Moskaluke

Adult Alternative Album of the Year
Good Advice
Basia Bulat
Secret Path
Gord Downie
The Great Detachment
Wintersleep
You Want It Darker
Leonard Cohen
The Party
Andy Shauf

Alternative Album of the Year
Touch
July Talk
Art Angels
Grimes
IV
Black Mountain
Weaves
Weaves
Sore
Dilly Dally

Pop Album of the Year
Know-It-All
Alessia Cara
Summerland
Coleman Hell
Astoria
Marianas Trench
Illuminate
Shawn Mendes
Love You to Death
Tegan and Sara

Rock Album of the Year
Morning Report
Arkells
Afraid of Heights
Billy Talent
Sittin’ Heavy
Monster Truck
TerraForm
Sam Roberts Band
Man Machine Poem
The Tragically Hip

Vocal Jazz Album of the Year
Quiet Nights
Matt Dusk & Florence K
You’ll Never Know
Heather Bambrick
I’m Still Learning
Barbra Lica
Bria
Bria Skonberg
Words
Amanda Tosoff

Jazz Album of the Year: Solo
Blue Canvas
Brandi Disterheft
Written in the Rocks
Renee Rosnes
Momentum
Shirantha Beddage
Superconductor
Seamus Blake
Nudging Forever
Mike Janzen

Jazz Album of the Year: Group
Real Enemies
Darcy James Argue’s Secret Society
One Way Up
Dave Young Quintet
Twenty
Metalwood
Flux
Quinsin Nachoff’s FLUX
Sweet Canadiana
Order of Canada Band

Instrumental Album of the Year
The Ridge
Sarah Neufeld
Flow
David Braid
Movements 1
Blitz//Berlin
Bird’s Nest
The Fretless
Everyone Knows Everyone
Pugs & Crows and Tony Wilson

Francophone Album of the Year
Trente
Karim Ouellet
Le fantastique des astres
Yann Perreau
Ultramarr
Fred Fortin
Love Suprême
Koriass
XO
Laurence Nerbonne

Children’s Album of the Year
I Believe in Little Things
Diana Panton
Owl Singalong
Raffi
Big Yellow Tunes
Splash‘N Boots
De Tombouctou à Bombay
Kattam
Wordplay
Will Stroet

Classical Album of the Year: Solo or Chamber Ensemble
Schubert: Sonatas and Impromptus
Janina Fialkowska
Overtures to Bach
Matt Haimovitz
Brahms: String Quartets, Op. 51 NOS. 1 & 2
New Orford String Quartet
Tchaikovsky: The Nutcracker, OP. 71 TH14
Stewart Goodyear
Beethoven, Enescu & Chopin: Works for Piano (Live)
Charles Richard-Hamelin

Classical Album of the Year: Large Ensemble or Soloist(s) with Large Ensemble Accompaniment
Beethoven Symphony No. 9
Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra and Chamber Choir
Poulenc: Piano Concertos & Aubade
Louis Lortie, Hélène Mercier, BBC Philharmonic
Going Home Star – Truth and Reconciliation
Steve Wood and the Northern Cree Singers, Tanya Tagaq, Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra
Schumann
Jan Lisiecki, Orchestra dell’Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia
Vivaldi: Concertos
Les Violons du Roy & Mathieu Lussier

Classical Album of the Year: Vocal or Choral Performance
L’Aiglon
Orchestre Symphonique de Montréal, Kent Nagano
Dark Star Requiem
Tapestry Opera, Gryphon Trio, Elmer Iseler Singers
Handel Messiah
Toronto Symphony Orchestra, Toronto Mendelssohn Choir, Sir Andrew Davis
Bach: Magnificat BWV 243
Arion Baroque Orchestre, Alexandre Weimann
Four Thousand Winter
Daniel Taylor, The Trinity Choir
Classical Composition of the Year
Going Home Star – Truth and Reconciliation
Christos Hatzis
The Debrecen Passion
Kati Agócs
Immersion
Jordan Nobles
And I need a room to receive five thousand people with raised glasses…or…what a glorious day, the birds are singing “halleluia”
Ana Sokolović
Dark Star Requiem
Andrew Staniland

Rap Recording of the Year
Another Day in Paradise
Belly
Views
Drake
I Told You
Tory Lanez
Hotel Paranoia
Jazz Cartier
Die Every Day
Tasha the Amazon

Dance Recording of the Year
Limitless ft. Delaney Jane
Adventure Club
Northern Lights
Zeds Dead
Let You Get Away ft. Ashe
Shaun Frank
Off the Ground ft. Shae Jacobs
Bit Funk
You Can’t Deny
Jacques Greene

R&B/Soul Recording of the Year
Starboy
The Weeknd
Sept. 5th
Dvsn
Pilgrim’s Paradise
Daniel Caesar
Soul Run
Tanika Charles
PARTYNEXTDOOR 3
PARTYNEXTDOOR

Reggae Recording of the Year
Sorry
Ammoye
Cry Every Day
Blessed
Roll ‘Dem ft. Gappy Ranks
Dubmatix
Siren
Exco Levi
Who Feels It Knows
Jay Kartier

Contemporary Roots Album of the Year
The Family Album
Matthew Barber & Jill Barber
Why You Wanna Leave, Runaway Queen?
Lisa LeBlanc
Hobo Jungle Fever Dreams
Corin Raymond
Earthly Days
William Prince
Strange Country
Kacy & Clayton

Traditional Roots Album of the Year
Someday the Heart Will Trouble the Mind
The High Bar Gang
Gathering
Maria Dunn
The Original
Jenny Whiteley
Auprès du poêle
Ten Strings And A Goat Skin
Secret Victory
The East Pointers

Blues Album of the Year
The Northern South Vol. 1
Whitehorse
Ride The One
Paul Reddick
Rich in Love
Colin Linden
Blue Highways
Colin James
Monkey Brain
Sean Pinchin

Contemporary Christian/Gospel Album of the Year
Eternally Grateful
Warren Dean Flandez
Hootenanny!
Tim Neufeld & the Glory Boys
Where the Good Way Lies
Steve Bell
Reborn
MANAFEST
Potter & Clay
Jaylene Johnson

World Music Album of the Year
Nouvelle Journée
Lorraine Klaasen
Subcontinental Drift
Sultans of String
Okavango African Orchestra
Okavango African Orchestra
Nazar
Turkwaz
Dance of the Infidels
Nomadica

Jack Richardson Producer of the Year
“Work” (Co-producer Charlotte Day Wilson) CDW – Charlotte Day Wilson, “High Five” (Co-producer Dan Kurtz) ROYAL BLUES – Dragonette
Howie Beck
“The Enforcer” (Co-producer Monster Truck) SITTIN’ HEAVY – Monster Truck, “Fever” DEALBREAKER – Royal Tusk
Eric Ratz
“R.E.D. ft. Yasiin Bey, Narcy & Black Bear”, “Sila ft. Tanya Tagaq” WE ARE THE HALLUCI NATION – A Tribe Called Red
A Tribe Called Red
“One Dance”, “Too Good” VIEWS – Drake
Nineteen85
“Afraid of Heights”, “Rabbit Down the Hole” AFRAID OF HEIGHTS – Billy Talent
Ian D’Sa

Recording Engineer of the Year
“Afraid of Heights” AFRAID OF HEIGHTS – Billy Talent Warner, “Don’t Tell Me How to Live” SITTIN’ HEAVY – Monster Truck
Eric Ratz
“Treat You Better”, “Don’t Be A Fool” ILLUMINATE – Shawn Mendes
George Seara
“The Magician”, “To You” THE PARTY – Andy Shauf
Andy Shauf
“Shine A Light” BANNERS EP – BANNERS, “Armageddon” ARMAGEDDON – Michelle Treacy
Matty Green
“Push + Pull”, “Beck + Call” TOUCH – July Talk
Jason Dufour

Recording Package of the Year
OOBOPOPOP – Valaire
Karim Charlebois-Zariffa (Art Director, Designer), Olivier Charland (Illustrator), Scottie Cameron (Photographer)
L’HEPTADE – Harmonium
John Wellman, Chris Sheppard, Joshua Geary (Art Directors)
SECRET PATH – Gord Downie
Jonathan Shedletzky (Art Director), Isis Essery (Designer), Jeff Lemaire (Illustrator)
LIVE AT COPPS – Alexisonfire
Justin Ellsworth (Art Director, Designer), Dustin Rabin (Photographer)
ART ANGELS – Grimes
Claire Boucher (Art Director, Designer, Illustrator), Rankin (Photographer)

Video of the Year
Kill v Maim – GRIMES
Claire Boucher
Lite Spots – KAYTRANADA
Martin C. Pariseau
R.E.D. ft. Yasiin Bey, Narcy & Black Bear – A Tribe Called Red
Yassin “Narcy” Alsalman
Killa – WIWEK/SKRILLEX
Jodeb
The Stranger – Gord Downie
Justin Stephenson

Electronic Album of the Year
99.9%
KAYTRANADA
Congrats
Holy Fuck
We Are the Halluci Nation
A Tribe Called Red
Days Gone By
Bob Moses
Checkpoint Titanium
Harrison

Heavy Metal Album of the Year
Transcendence
Devin Townsend Project
Pacific Myth
Protest the Hero
Beast
Despised Icon
Suicide Society
Annihilator
Coral Throne
Mandroid Echostar

Adult Contemporary Album of the Year
Encore un soir
Céline Dion
Hard Sail
Chantal Kreviazuk
Beating Heart
Mark Masri
Wonderland
Sarah McLachlan
A Fine Line
Heather Rankin

Canadian Music Hall of Fame
Sarah McLachlan

Allan Waters Humanitarian Award
Buffy Sainte-Marie

Walt Grealis Special Achievement Award
Randy Lennox

Categories
People

More very sad news. May he rest in peace.

Richard Hatch, ‘Battlestar Galactica’ Star, Dies at 71

Richard Hatch, the Golden Globe nominee who starred on both the original Battlestar Galactica TV series as well as the mid-2000s reboot, died Tuesday after a battle with cancer. He was 71.

“Richard Hatch was a good man, a gracious man, and a consummate professional. His passing is a heavy blow to the entire BSG family,” tweeted Ronald D. Moore, creator of the Battlestar Galactica reboot.

Hatch had been battling stage 4 pancreatic cancer, Alec Peters, the writer/producer behind the Star Trek fan film Axanar, wrote on Facebook. Hatch had acted in and was a supporter of the project, playing a Klingong in Prelude to Axanar.

“Richard was in good spirits when I visited him 2 weeks ago. He knew his time was short, but was comforted by the fact that his son would be taken care of,” wrote Peters.

On the original Battlestar Galactica, which ran for the 1978-79 season, Hatch played hotshot pilot Captain Apollo, with the role earning him a Golden Globe nomination for best actor in a television series – drama. In the 2004-09 reboot, the actor returned to the franchise as Tom Zarek, an opportunistic political leader who often shook up the playing field as humanity tried to survive annihilation at the hands of the Cylons, a cybernetic race who rebelled against their creators.

Hatch also starred as police Inspector Dan Robbins opposite Karl Malden in the fifth and final season (1976-77) of the ABC drama The Streets of San Francisco. He effectively replaced Michael Douglas, who exited the show (Douglas’ character Steve Keller left the force to become professor of criminology).

“It was hard because Michael Douglas was like a second son to Karl Malden, who was respectful to me, but never warm and welcoming like Lorne Greene on Battlestar Galactica,” Hatch said in a 2012 interview. “Even my girlfriend at the time liked Michael Douglas and missed the Steve Keller character.”

Hatch also played Philip Brent, who was drafted into the Vietnam War, in the original cast of the ABC daytime soap opera All My Children. Other credits included episodes of Hawaii Five-O (1973-75) and The Waltons (1975-75).

Throughout his career, Hatch maintained a passion for Battlestar Galactica, penning three novels continuing the adventures from the original series. In 1999, before the rebooted show got of the ground, Hatch pitched Battlestar: The Second Coming as a possible revival to the series, producing a trailer for a pilot, though the project did not move forward. Intstead, Moore’s now-classic series got the green light.

“When you meet someone with a vision, you have to give them a shot and an opportunity to see what they can do,” Hatch said in 2009 of joining Moore’s show as the revolutionary Zarek. “I felt it was worth taking a shot with someone this gifted and someone who I felt really loved science fiction and appreciated the genre.”

Hatch also became a fixture on the fan convention circuit, hosting Battlestar Galactica panels at San Diego Comic-Con and Dragoncon.

“In my case, Battlestar Galactica was a milestone. It afforded me the opportunity to live out my childhood dreams and fantasies,” the actor once said. “Hurtling through space with reckless abandon, playing the dashing hero, battling Cylons, monsters and super-villains — what more could a man want?”

Edward James Olmos, Hatch’s co-star on the BSG reboot, on Tuesday tweeted this tribute: “Richard Hatch you made our universe a better place We love you for it. Rest In Peace my friend @SoSayWeAll the Admiral!”

Hatch is survived by his son, Paul.

Categories
Sports

If I hadn’t watched the game with my own eyes I wouldn’t have believed that it happened!!

Patriots erase deficit, defeat Falcons in Super Bowl LI

The greatest quarterback of all time capped off the biggest comeback in Super Bowl history, leading an eight-play, 75-yard touchdown drive on the opening possession of the first Super Bowl overtime ever played. Here’s what we learned in Super Bowl LI:

1. After throwing a second-quarter pick-six to put his team in a seemingly insurmountable 21-0 hole, Tom Brady bounced back in the most dramatic fashion possible, earning Super Bowl MVP honors for an unprecedented fourth time. En route to a Super Bowl-record 466 passing yards, Brady erased a 25-point second-half deficit by orchestrating four touchdown drives and a field goal in New England’s final five series. Thumbing his nose at Father Time in the last game of his thirties, Brady completed 27 of 34 passes (79.4 percent) for 302 yards (8.9 YPA), two touchdowns and a 123.3 passer rating on those five legacy-cementing possessions from the middle of the third quarter through James White’s game-ending touchdown run.

“There were a lot of plays,” Brady told Terry Bradshaw during the presentation of the Lombardi Trophy. “Coach talks about how you never know which play it’s going to be in the Super Bowl. There were probably 30 of them tonight. Any one of those would have been different, the outcome would have been different.”

2. If the quarterback position wasn’t the most uniquely important in all of professional sports, White would have been the runaway choice as MVP. The shifty scatback authored the most brilliant performance of his career on the game’s brightest stage, hauling in a Super Bowl-record 14 receptions for 110 yards while adding three touchdowns and a clutch two-point conversion. From Kevin Faulk to Danny Woodhead to Shane Vereen and, now, to White, no quarterback utilizes pass-catching “satellite” backs to greater effect than Brady.

3. If the prolate spheroid had bounced differently in the second half, the Falcons could have turned Super Bowl LI into a lopsided laugher. Reminiscent of the Seahawks’ lopsided Super Bowl XLVIII victory, when Dan Quinn’s Seattle defense dominated Denver’s record-breaking offense, the Falcons simply outclassed the Patriots in terms of speed and athleticism for the first 40 minutes of Sunday’s ultimate affair. Atlanta jumped out to a forbidding 28-3 lead, with fleet-footed middle linebacker Deion Jones setting the tone as a true sideline-to-sideline force on defense and big-play tailback Devonta Freeman shredding New England’s defense on the other side of the ball.

Falcons general manager Thomas Dimitroff cut his teeth in the Patriots front office, learning how to construct a successful organization from team-building master Bill Belichick. When Dimitroff was afforded the chance to run his own operation in Atlanta, he parted ways with his mentor in one key area: Whereas Belichick emphasized size and power, Dimitroff coined the phrase “urgent athleticism” to describe his own draft philosophy. That difference played out in stark terms for one half at NRG Stadium Sunday evening. Despite the heartbreaking loss, the talented young roster compiled by Dimitroff, Quinn and Scott Pioli is poised to remain an NFC powerhouse for the next few years.

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Sports

Brady was so amazing to watch. Wow, just wow!!

Patriots QB Tom Brady named Super Bowl LI MVP

On Sunday evening, Tom Brady cemented his legend as the greatest of all-time.

The Patriots quarterback brought New England all the way back from a second-half 25-point deficit, leading New England to an improbable 34-28 overtime victory over the Atlanta Falcons in Super Bowl LI.

Leader of the largest comeback in Super Bowl history, Brady was named the Super Bowl Most Valuable Player once again, his fourth such honor. With the win, Brady is the winningest quarterback in Super Bowl history with five championships, breaking his boyhood hero Joe Montana and Terry Bradshaw’s record.

Brady bounced back from a poor first half, during which he threw his first postseason pick-six, to lead New England on four second-half scoring drives, including two TD marches in the fourth quarter. After the Patriots won the overtime coin toss, Brady led a game-winning, eight-play drive, capped by a two-yard James White score.

The Patriots legend set Super Bowl records with 466 passing yards, 43 completions and 62 attempts. Brady also threw two touchdowns and one interception in the historic victory.

Of Brady’s five Super Bowl victories and four MVP performances, you’ll be hard-pressed to argue any was more important or significant than this one.

Suspended for the first four games of the season, Brady put up a career-best TD-INT ratio and lost just one game on his road to vindication. The stakes of Brady’s amazing 2016 season were amplified even more during Super Bowl Week when he divulged that his mother had been battling an illness and that his father hadn’t been to a game all season.

Brady said ahead of Sunday’s magical night that he was dedicating this Super Bowl to his mother. After the victory, an emotional Brady let the season, the strife, everything all out.

“They’re all happy,” Brady told FOX’s Terry Bradshaw during the on-field celebration. “It’s nice to have everybody here and it’s going to be a great celebration tonight.

“Thank you to all our fans. Everyone back in Boston, New England, we love you. You’ve been with us all year. We’re bringing this sucker home!”

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Awards

Bet on him to win the Oscar for sure now.

Directors Guild of America Awards 2017: Damien Chazelle (‘La La Land’) wins on way to making Oscar history

Oscar frontrunner Damien Chazelle (“La La Land”) became the youngest winner in the history of the Directors Guild of America Awards on Saturday (Feb. 4); the writer/director turned 32 on Jan. 19. The record had been held by Francis Ford Coppola, who was 35 days shy of turning 34 when he won in 1973 for helming “The Godfather.”

However, Coppola had the misfortune of being one of the seven DGA champs that did not repeat at the Oscars since the guild aligned itself with the academy calendar in 1950. While he lost the Oscar to “Cabaret” director Bob Fosse, Coppola did come back to win both the DGA and the Oscar two years later for “The Godfather: Part II.”

Should Chazelle prevail at the Oscars as predicted, he’ll also be the youngest winner there at age 32 years and 38 days; Norman Taurog was 32 years and 267 days when he won this award in 1931 for “Skippy.”

For the second time the DGA presented an award for Best First-Time Director, which went to Garth Davis for “Lion.” While Davis had also contended here in the top category, he was bumped by the directors branch of the academy in favor of past Oscar champ Mel Gibson (“Braveheart”) for “Hacksaw Ridge.”

The prize for Best Documentary Director went as expected to Ezra Edelman for the Oscar frontrunner “O.J.: Made in America.” This doc also won last week at the producers guild.

On the TV side, “Veep” won Best Comedy Directing for the “Inauguration” episode directed by Becky Martin. Fellow HBO series “Game of Thrones” took Best Drama Directing, repeating its Emmy win last fall in the same category for the episode “Battle of the Bastards” by Miguel Sapochnik.

HBO’s “The Night Of” won Best TV Movie/Miniseries, but both variety awards went to broadcast TV: Variety Series Directing was awarded to NBC’s “Saturday Night Live,” while the 70th Tony Awards took Variety Special Directing for CBS.

Finishing out the races, the award for Children’s Programming went to “An American Girl Story,” “American Grit” earned the prize for Best Reality Program, and Derek Cianfrance won Best Commercial.