Lyle Lovett says he has "never made a dime" from album sales during his two-decade career, and hopes to rectify that situation when his contract expires.
The eclectic country singer has two more albums on his deal with Curb/Universal, his home since 1985, and figures the horizons are wide open.
"The possibilities are very exciting, I think," Lovett told Billboard.com. "I've never made a dime from a record sale in the history of my record deal. I've been very happy with my sales, and certainly my audience has been very supportive. I make a living going out and playing shows."
Lovett, 50, has sold 4.6 million albums in the United States since 1991, the year when SoundScan sales data were introduced. His most recent release, "It's Not Big It's Large," has sold about 145,000 copies since debuting at a career-best No. 18 on the Billboard 200 last September, according to Nielsen SoundScan.
"Records are very powerful promotional tools to go out and be able to play on the road, but you do have to think about it as a way of sustaining itself at some point. I'm very excited about being able to do some of that on my own, maybe," Lovett said.
He did not, however, rule out another label deal.
"Certainly if a major label is interested in working with me after these next two records and is able to come up with a strategy that does engage some of the new technology in a way that can benefit everybody, I'd be very interested in that."
Lovett said he hopes to start work on his next album in time for a 2009 release. He has a direction in mind but says, "I don't know if I want to talk about it yet."
He is currently touring North America with his Large Band through mid-August, and has also financed an album recorded at some of the singer/songwriter shows he does with John Hiatt, Guy Clark and Joe Ely but is having trouble getting his label interested in putting it out.
Lovett, who has graced the big screen in such films as "The Player" and "The Opposite of Sex," recently added to his acting resume with "a very small contribution" to Michael Meredith's film "The Open Road," which stars Justin Timberlake and Jeff Bridges, and is expected to open later this year.
"I got to do a scene with Justin, which was fun. I enjoyed meeting him," said Lovett, who also performed a song for the soundtrack with Charlie Sexton, who's scoring the film.
Friday, July 11, 2008
The Who and friends to play special show in LA
It's tough being a rock star.
Roger Daltrey, vocalist for the Who, is taking a break from doing "delightfully nothing" for the past year to reunite with bandmate Pete Townshend for a concert in Los Angeles on Saturday.
The British rock veterans will be feted at cable channel VH1's third annual "VH1 Rock Honors," which will be taped at UCLA's Pauley Pavilion and will air next Thursday.
Rock bands such as Pearl Jam, the Foo Fighters and the Flaming Lips will cover Who songs, then the guests of honor will close the event with a 45-minute performance.
"I'm a huge fan of (Foo Fighters frontman) Dave Grohl," Daltrey told Reuters during an interview at his hotel on Thursday. "He's got the mentality of a rock god."
Daltrey, 64, and Townshend, 63, the Who's songwriter and guitarist, are the band's only surviving original members. Bassist Pino Palladino is standing in for John Entwistle, who died of a drug-related heart attack in 2002, while Zak Starkey -- son of Ringo Starr -- is the latest replacement for drummer Keith Moon, who overdosed on pills in 1978.
After the VH1 show, Daltrey will resume his leisurely ways until November, when the Who launches a four-date tour of Japan, only its second visit to that country.
SOLO PROJECTS
Actually, Daltrey's routine involves more than staring at the wall waiting for Townshend to write a follow-up to 2006's "Endless Wire," the band's first studio album in more two decades.
The singer has been jamming with an acoustic band and is thinking about recording his first solo album since 1992's "Rocks in the Head."
"There's other kinds of music I want to explore again," he said. "There's a lot more in me, an awful lot more in me."
His band played a small charity show in March, "and I just really enjoyed doing it -- stand-up bass -- totally different from what the Who is ... It's just really nice to sing in a different way because you don't have to roar all the time."
Its repertoire consists of Who songs, Daltrey solo material and a smattering of covers. But Daltrey has grander ambitions.
"I'd like to find some new stuff to give the band its own identity," he said. "I'm a good songwriter, but I'm not a great songwriter ... There must be some great songwriters out there who can't sing!"
As for the Who, there are no concrete plans for further tours or albums, Daltrey said. He would like to play South America for the first time and return to Australia for what would amount to a working vacation.
"Sadly, it's the economics at the moment," he said, referring to rising air fares and related costs.
Roger Daltrey, vocalist for the Who, is taking a break from doing "delightfully nothing" for the past year to reunite with bandmate Pete Townshend for a concert in Los Angeles on Saturday.
The British rock veterans will be feted at cable channel VH1's third annual "VH1 Rock Honors," which will be taped at UCLA's Pauley Pavilion and will air next Thursday.
Rock bands such as Pearl Jam, the Foo Fighters and the Flaming Lips will cover Who songs, then the guests of honor will close the event with a 45-minute performance.
"I'm a huge fan of (Foo Fighters frontman) Dave Grohl," Daltrey told Reuters during an interview at his hotel on Thursday. "He's got the mentality of a rock god."
Daltrey, 64, and Townshend, 63, the Who's songwriter and guitarist, are the band's only surviving original members. Bassist Pino Palladino is standing in for John Entwistle, who died of a drug-related heart attack in 2002, while Zak Starkey -- son of Ringo Starr -- is the latest replacement for drummer Keith Moon, who overdosed on pills in 1978.
After the VH1 show, Daltrey will resume his leisurely ways until November, when the Who launches a four-date tour of Japan, only its second visit to that country.
SOLO PROJECTS
Actually, Daltrey's routine involves more than staring at the wall waiting for Townshend to write a follow-up to 2006's "Endless Wire," the band's first studio album in more two decades.
The singer has been jamming with an acoustic band and is thinking about recording his first solo album since 1992's "Rocks in the Head."
"There's other kinds of music I want to explore again," he said. "There's a lot more in me, an awful lot more in me."
His band played a small charity show in March, "and I just really enjoyed doing it -- stand-up bass -- totally different from what the Who is ... It's just really nice to sing in a different way because you don't have to roar all the time."
Its repertoire consists of Who songs, Daltrey solo material and a smattering of covers. But Daltrey has grander ambitions.
"I'd like to find some new stuff to give the band its own identity," he said. "I'm a good songwriter, but I'm not a great songwriter ... There must be some great songwriters out there who can't sing!"
As for the Who, there are no concrete plans for further tours or albums, Daltrey said. He would like to play South America for the first time and return to Australia for what would amount to a working vacation.
"Sadly, it's the economics at the moment," he said, referring to rising air fares and related costs.
The Cure to release new single each month
The Cure have announced that they will release a new single each month leading up to the release of their 13th studio album in September.
Robert Smith and company will drop the first single from the as-yet untitled album on May 13, and intend to release a different a- and b-side single on the 13th of each month until the album is released on September 13.
The first single, "The Only One," includes the b-side "NY Trip."The second single, "Freakshow"--due out June 13--contains the b-side "All Kinds Of Stuff."
Both b-sides are exclusive to the singles and will not appear on the full-length album. They were produced by Smith and Keith Uddin.
The July 13 and August 13 singles will be announced shortly.
The band is set to kick off an extensive U.S. tour in support of the new album beginning May 9.
Robert Smith and company will drop the first single from the as-yet untitled album on May 13, and intend to release a different a- and b-side single on the 13th of each month until the album is released on September 13.
The first single, "The Only One," includes the b-side "NY Trip."The second single, "Freakshow"--due out June 13--contains the b-side "All Kinds Of Stuff."
Both b-sides are exclusive to the singles and will not appear on the full-length album. They were produced by Smith and Keith Uddin.
The July 13 and August 13 singles will be announced shortly.
The band is set to kick off an extensive U.S. tour in support of the new album beginning May 9.
Q&A: Brooke Hogan talks about her family drama
Her parents are in the middle of a tawdry divorce, her brother is in jail and she's cut off contact with her mom because of her mother's teenage boyfriend. It would seem that with all the drama engulfing Brooke Hogan these days, the last place she'd want to be is in front of the cameras.
But the statuesque starlet was eager to sign up for her own reality show, VH1's "Brooke Knows Best," debuting Sunday, despite — or perhaps because of — her family woes.
The Hogans had been depicted for four seasons on "Hogan Knows Best" (also on VH1) as Hulk Hogan's loving, tight-knit clan. But over the last year, the superstar wrestler, whose real name is Terry Bollea, and his wife, Linda, have had an acrimonious split, while their son Nick Bollea serves an eight-month sentence after pleading no contest to causing a crash that seriously injured his friend.
And if that wasn't enough fodder for the tabloids, the romantic lives of Brooke's parents (he has a new girlfriend, she's dating a 19-year-old) have made them fixtures in the gossip pages and blogs.
Despite it all, Brooke, 19, has maintained the bubbly, wisecracking persona that she embodied on "Hogan Knows Best." Dressed in a clingy red halter-top, long black gaucho pants and wearing her long blond hair in a ponytail, the striking Hogan (and budding pop star) talked about how she has been coping with the turmoil.
AP: What made you want to do another reality show?
Hogan: The first four times we did the reality show, I didn't have my stuff together with my music career. So this time, I'm like, all right, I have to start recording an album and using this TV show to my benefit, other than just letting these cameras come into my life to make ratings (laughs). And plus, I have to admit I really do miss the guys when they're gone, because they're like built-in family now, all the cameramen and stuff. So it's like, "Ah man, I really hate being followed all the time, but OK, come back. You guys are cute." (Laughs.)
AP: Do you think the Hogan reality show helped tear your family apart?
Hogan: I don't think a camera and a cameraman can destroy a family. I mean, they're not part of the family. But I think that it was the pressure of the cameras being there and the pressure of being on guard and not really being able to let your feelings fly, like if you are mad at somebody. Let's just say my parents were fighting; they couldn't just let it all out on national television. So I think it kind of suppressed it to the point where it almost let it explode, but I think that it would have come sooner or later.
AP: Do you think the strain of your brother's problems played a role in your parents' breakup?
Hogan: It takes two to tango, and it was my mom and dad, they had problems. And it's not the camera crew that tears it apart, it's not Nick's accident that tears it apart, it's just that those things add more stress so I think that to every cloud there's a silver lining, and I think that they almost saved my parents from their marriage going any farther down a destructive road.
AP: How have you dealt with your brother not being around?
Hogan: It's really, really hard because I feel like our whole lives I was able to protect him ... and now I had to watch him walk away in handcuffs and I couldn't do anything about it. It's hard because he's like my best friend. I mean, I have friends, but my brother is really the one person who I can confide in and talk to about anything. So it's tough because everything that we talk about now is recorded. And we saw what happened with that.
AP: How did you and your mother get so far apart?
Hogan: My mother and I naturally have a tremendous bond, there's like a bond that you just can't break with us. ... Right now I'm just really disappointed with her and I feel like I wish I could talk to her, but you just can't. It's one of those kind of things where, I am a very straight-laced person and maybe that makes it even harder for me to see the path that she's going down as being right, but I look at her now and I'm like, "You were my hero at one point. Why are you making these weird choices?" I don't understand it. I definitely don't condone what's going on. I definitely don't think it's cool who she's dating. I think it's ridiculous but at the end of the day she's my mother and I will still respect her and love her but right now ... I just have to love her from a distance for now.
AP: Were you at one point as disappointed in your dad?
Hogan: My dad and I had a little bit of a tiff earlier this year and that kind of stuff I really don't want to talk about now, but I was disappointed for a minute. But what I respect about my dad is he comes forth and he tells the truth, and he's a very honorable person, I respect him a lot. He, I know deep down, has a good heart. Honesty with me goes such a long way that once the truth comes out and that person can be man enough to tell you the truth, it gives me an even higher respect for them than before.
AP: Are you dating anyone?
Hogan: I was actually dating somebody that I've actually known since I was 15, and that was a great experience and I'm still really, really close to him and I still really love him but we just recently kind of broke it off, so it didn't seem right anymore. So as of right now I'm single.
AP: Will we see your romantic side in the new show?
Hogan: You'll see a little bit of the romantic side. I went on a couple of dates. Some of them were disasters and some of them were really, really great. You'll just have to find out! I'm not going to tell you everything about it.
___
But the statuesque starlet was eager to sign up for her own reality show, VH1's "Brooke Knows Best," debuting Sunday, despite — or perhaps because of — her family woes.
The Hogans had been depicted for four seasons on "Hogan Knows Best" (also on VH1) as Hulk Hogan's loving, tight-knit clan. But over the last year, the superstar wrestler, whose real name is Terry Bollea, and his wife, Linda, have had an acrimonious split, while their son Nick Bollea serves an eight-month sentence after pleading no contest to causing a crash that seriously injured his friend.
And if that wasn't enough fodder for the tabloids, the romantic lives of Brooke's parents (he has a new girlfriend, she's dating a 19-year-old) have made them fixtures in the gossip pages and blogs.
Despite it all, Brooke, 19, has maintained the bubbly, wisecracking persona that she embodied on "Hogan Knows Best." Dressed in a clingy red halter-top, long black gaucho pants and wearing her long blond hair in a ponytail, the striking Hogan (and budding pop star) talked about how she has been coping with the turmoil.
AP: What made you want to do another reality show?
Hogan: The first four times we did the reality show, I didn't have my stuff together with my music career. So this time, I'm like, all right, I have to start recording an album and using this TV show to my benefit, other than just letting these cameras come into my life to make ratings (laughs). And plus, I have to admit I really do miss the guys when they're gone, because they're like built-in family now, all the cameramen and stuff. So it's like, "Ah man, I really hate being followed all the time, but OK, come back. You guys are cute." (Laughs.)
AP: Do you think the Hogan reality show helped tear your family apart?
Hogan: I don't think a camera and a cameraman can destroy a family. I mean, they're not part of the family. But I think that it was the pressure of the cameras being there and the pressure of being on guard and not really being able to let your feelings fly, like if you are mad at somebody. Let's just say my parents were fighting; they couldn't just let it all out on national television. So I think it kind of suppressed it to the point where it almost let it explode, but I think that it would have come sooner or later.
AP: Do you think the strain of your brother's problems played a role in your parents' breakup?
Hogan: It takes two to tango, and it was my mom and dad, they had problems. And it's not the camera crew that tears it apart, it's not Nick's accident that tears it apart, it's just that those things add more stress so I think that to every cloud there's a silver lining, and I think that they almost saved my parents from their marriage going any farther down a destructive road.
AP: How have you dealt with your brother not being around?
Hogan: It's really, really hard because I feel like our whole lives I was able to protect him ... and now I had to watch him walk away in handcuffs and I couldn't do anything about it. It's hard because he's like my best friend. I mean, I have friends, but my brother is really the one person who I can confide in and talk to about anything. So it's tough because everything that we talk about now is recorded. And we saw what happened with that.
AP: How did you and your mother get so far apart?
Hogan: My mother and I naturally have a tremendous bond, there's like a bond that you just can't break with us. ... Right now I'm just really disappointed with her and I feel like I wish I could talk to her, but you just can't. It's one of those kind of things where, I am a very straight-laced person and maybe that makes it even harder for me to see the path that she's going down as being right, but I look at her now and I'm like, "You were my hero at one point. Why are you making these weird choices?" I don't understand it. I definitely don't condone what's going on. I definitely don't think it's cool who she's dating. I think it's ridiculous but at the end of the day she's my mother and I will still respect her and love her but right now ... I just have to love her from a distance for now.
AP: Were you at one point as disappointed in your dad?
Hogan: My dad and I had a little bit of a tiff earlier this year and that kind of stuff I really don't want to talk about now, but I was disappointed for a minute. But what I respect about my dad is he comes forth and he tells the truth, and he's a very honorable person, I respect him a lot. He, I know deep down, has a good heart. Honesty with me goes such a long way that once the truth comes out and that person can be man enough to tell you the truth, it gives me an even higher respect for them than before.
AP: Are you dating anyone?
Hogan: I was actually dating somebody that I've actually known since I was 15, and that was a great experience and I'm still really, really close to him and I still really love him but we just recently kind of broke it off, so it didn't seem right anymore. So as of right now I'm single.
AP: Will we see your romantic side in the new show?
Hogan: You'll see a little bit of the romantic side. I went on a couple of dates. Some of them were disasters and some of them were really, really great. You'll just have to find out! I'm not going to tell you everything about it.
___
Ron Sexsmith plants some more musical seeds
Every so often, Ron Sexsmith runs into the music executive who curated Bob Marley's "Legend" disc — the prototype for a phenomenally successful career retrospective — and the man asks if it's time to give the Canadian singer-songwriter the same treatment.
It might not be a bad idea. Sexsmith, whose ninth album is out this week, does just well enough to fly under the music business radar with work that is respected by peers and a devoted cult audience, yet not successful enough to keep him from scuffling.
Put together 15 or 16 of his best songs and people might better appreciate him.
Sexsmith has resisted, in part because of a lingering prejudice that such sets are for people at the end of their careers (or worse, dead). But he admits that if he could afford to, he wouldn't mind sitting out a few years to see how time affects his reputation.
"I'm getting all my groundwork in," he told The Associated Press. "I'm planting the seeds so that hopefully in my lifetime there will be a full garden that people will see."
Sexsmith, 44, is best known for his songs "Secret Heart," "Hands of Time" and "Gold in Them Hills," the latter a duet with Coldplay's Chris Martin. His songs have been covered by Rod Stewart, k.d. lang, Feist and Raul Malo.
But he's found the music business circa 2008 can be tough to navigate.
"I know that people don't listen to albums the same way but I still do," he said. "It's kind of sad to see some of the label people you meet. They're all excited about ring tones or whatever. Music's not meant to be heard on a cell phone or an iPod commercial."
Fellow Canadian singer Feist, with whom Sexsmith writes a song that appears on his new "Exit Strategy of the Soul" disc, saw her career explode when her song "1234" was chosen for a memorable iPod commercial.
He doesn't begrudge her that success; his managers work for similar magic placements. One of his songs was considered for a soft drink commercial overseas and he even rewrote it at the sponsors' request before it was ultimately rejected.
Sexsmith wrote music for a Deborah Winger movie, but all of it was cut out due to a feud between producers. He salvaged two instrumentals that bookend the new album.
He has also traveled to Nashville in an effort to break into the country music writing market. Teamwork is prized there, so a man who seems to consider songwriting a very personal experience is asked to sit in a room with a stranger to see if they could come up with something together. He'd love to hit the jackpot so he doesn't have to do it again.
"As far as fame is, I'm fine with the level or lack of fame that I have," he said. "But if I had my way, my financial picture would be brighter, like most people. I'd love to not have to worry about that so much, especially these days."
Sexsmith said his new disc almost felt like a gospel album to him, with some songs taking a spiritual tone. He usually maps out his songs carefully, but this time did more stream-of-consciousness writing. He'd write a verse of "This is How I Know" and that would suggest where the next verse was going.
His London-based producer, Martin Terefe, has a yen for Cuban horn sections and Sexsmith was surprised when he suggested a trip south to add some brass.
Hmmm. An acoustic or gently rocking artist from Toronto and a Latin American horn section. It certainly hadn't crossed Sexsmith's mind before. He worried it would sound like something unnatural was being grafted on to his music.
For the most part, his involvement was shuttling between watching the horns play and the bar downstairs from the studio.
"I was actually pleasantly surprised," he said. "It's not a Cuban record. There's nothing Cuban about our music, but it gives a whole other sort of flavor. I'm worried now because I have to tour (behind) the record and I can't afford to bring out horns. That's the frustrating thing about being on my level is that I have this vision of the show I want to put on and it's not always possible to do." Sexsmith has always been proud of his work but felt out of sync with the times. What sustains him are the chance encounters — a nice e-mail from a fan or being recognized on the street.
"It's always when I least expect it," he said. "People will come up to you in the grocery store and it will totally turn your day around."
It might not be a bad idea. Sexsmith, whose ninth album is out this week, does just well enough to fly under the music business radar with work that is respected by peers and a devoted cult audience, yet not successful enough to keep him from scuffling.
Put together 15 or 16 of his best songs and people might better appreciate him.
Sexsmith has resisted, in part because of a lingering prejudice that such sets are for people at the end of their careers (or worse, dead). But he admits that if he could afford to, he wouldn't mind sitting out a few years to see how time affects his reputation.
"I'm getting all my groundwork in," he told The Associated Press. "I'm planting the seeds so that hopefully in my lifetime there will be a full garden that people will see."
Sexsmith, 44, is best known for his songs "Secret Heart," "Hands of Time" and "Gold in Them Hills," the latter a duet with Coldplay's Chris Martin. His songs have been covered by Rod Stewart, k.d. lang, Feist and Raul Malo.
But he's found the music business circa 2008 can be tough to navigate.
"I know that people don't listen to albums the same way but I still do," he said. "It's kind of sad to see some of the label people you meet. They're all excited about ring tones or whatever. Music's not meant to be heard on a cell phone or an iPod commercial."
Fellow Canadian singer Feist, with whom Sexsmith writes a song that appears on his new "Exit Strategy of the Soul" disc, saw her career explode when her song "1234" was chosen for a memorable iPod commercial.
He doesn't begrudge her that success; his managers work for similar magic placements. One of his songs was considered for a soft drink commercial overseas and he even rewrote it at the sponsors' request before it was ultimately rejected.
Sexsmith wrote music for a Deborah Winger movie, but all of it was cut out due to a feud between producers. He salvaged two instrumentals that bookend the new album.
He has also traveled to Nashville in an effort to break into the country music writing market. Teamwork is prized there, so a man who seems to consider songwriting a very personal experience is asked to sit in a room with a stranger to see if they could come up with something together. He'd love to hit the jackpot so he doesn't have to do it again.
"As far as fame is, I'm fine with the level or lack of fame that I have," he said. "But if I had my way, my financial picture would be brighter, like most people. I'd love to not have to worry about that so much, especially these days."
Sexsmith said his new disc almost felt like a gospel album to him, with some songs taking a spiritual tone. He usually maps out his songs carefully, but this time did more stream-of-consciousness writing. He'd write a verse of "This is How I Know" and that would suggest where the next verse was going.
His London-based producer, Martin Terefe, has a yen for Cuban horn sections and Sexsmith was surprised when he suggested a trip south to add some brass.
Hmmm. An acoustic or gently rocking artist from Toronto and a Latin American horn section. It certainly hadn't crossed Sexsmith's mind before. He worried it would sound like something unnatural was being grafted on to his music.
For the most part, his involvement was shuttling between watching the horns play and the bar downstairs from the studio.
"I was actually pleasantly surprised," he said. "It's not a Cuban record. There's nothing Cuban about our music, but it gives a whole other sort of flavor. I'm worried now because I have to tour (behind) the record and I can't afford to bring out horns. That's the frustrating thing about being on my level is that I have this vision of the show I want to put on and it's not always possible to do." Sexsmith has always been proud of his work but felt out of sync with the times. What sustains him are the chance encounters — a nice e-mail from a fan or being recognized on the street.
"It's always when I least expect it," he said. "People will come up to you in the grocery store and it will totally turn your day around."
Newton-John marries businessman
He's the one that she wants.
Olivia Newton-John, who starred in the hit movie version of the musical "Grease," has married, her attorney said Thursday.
Newton-John wed John Easterling on June 21 in Cuzco, Peru, according to a statement from the Reno, Nev., office of attorney John Mason. Other details were not released.
A call to Newton-John's publicist, Michael Caprio in Las Vegas, was not immediately returned Thursday.
Easterling, 49, is the founder and chief executive officer of Amazon Herb Co., which sells botanical supplements from the rainforest. Newton-John, 59, has been involved with Amazon preservation efforts.
It was the second marriage for the singer. She has a daughter by Matt Lattanzi, whom she married in 1984 and divorced in 1995.
Newton-John's boyfriend of nine years, Patrick McDermott, 48, vanished in June 2005. He failed to return from a fishing trip off the California coast.
Newton-John had a string of pop hits in the 1970s and 1980s, including "Physical" and "I Honestly Love You." She and John Travolta starred in the 1978 movie "Grease," which spawned a hit songs including "You're the One That I Want," "Summer Nights" and "Hopelessly Devoted to You."
Olivia Newton-John, who starred in the hit movie version of the musical "Grease," has married, her attorney said Thursday.
Newton-John wed John Easterling on June 21 in Cuzco, Peru, according to a statement from the Reno, Nev., office of attorney John Mason. Other details were not released.
A call to Newton-John's publicist, Michael Caprio in Las Vegas, was not immediately returned Thursday.
Easterling, 49, is the founder and chief executive officer of Amazon Herb Co., which sells botanical supplements from the rainforest. Newton-John, 59, has been involved with Amazon preservation efforts.
It was the second marriage for the singer. She has a daughter by Matt Lattanzi, whom she married in 1984 and divorced in 1995.
Newton-John's boyfriend of nine years, Patrick McDermott, 48, vanished in June 2005. He failed to return from a fishing trip off the California coast.
Newton-John had a string of pop hits in the 1970s and 1980s, including "Physical" and "I Honestly Love You." She and John Travolta starred in the 1978 movie "Grease," which spawned a hit songs including "You're the One That I Want," "Summer Nights" and "Hopelessly Devoted to You."
Damon Albarn's 'Gorillaz' musical journeys west
Damon Albarn's circus opera is set to make its U.S. debut on May 22.
Monkey: Journey To The West premiered in Manchester, England, last year, and is now making its way Stateside, debuting at the 2008 Spoleto Festival USA in Charleston, South Carolina.
The opera, for which Blur frontman Albarn composed the music, will be performed at the festival 18 times between May 23 and June 8. The show will open in London two months later at the Royal Opera House.
The show was designed by Gorillaz artist Jamie Hewlett and directed by Chen Shi-Zheng, and is a mixture of stunning live-action circus acts and animations.
An adaptation of an ancient Chinese legend, the opera follows the story of the Monkey King, a hyperactive ape who gains immortality after leading a revolt against heaven.
The Spoleto Festival USA is an annual arts festival that takes place in Charleston for 17 days each spring. For additional information, visit Spoletousa.org.
Monkey: Journey To The West premiered in Manchester, England, last year, and is now making its way Stateside, debuting at the 2008 Spoleto Festival USA in Charleston, South Carolina.
The opera, for which Blur frontman Albarn composed the music, will be performed at the festival 18 times between May 23 and June 8. The show will open in London two months later at the Royal Opera House.
The show was designed by Gorillaz artist Jamie Hewlett and directed by Chen Shi-Zheng, and is a mixture of stunning live-action circus acts and animations.
An adaptation of an ancient Chinese legend, the opera follows the story of the Monkey King, a hyperactive ape who gains immortality after leading a revolt against heaven.
The Spoleto Festival USA is an annual arts festival that takes place in Charleston for 17 days each spring. For additional information, visit Spoletousa.org.
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