Free Republic

The cover will be featured on the Broadway legend's upcoming duets album The Secret of Life: Partners, Volume 2.Barbra Streisand has recruited Paul McCartney to join forces for a new version of his 2012 single “My Valentine,” which was released Friday (May 16) via Columbia Records. “What if it rained? We didn’t care/ He said that someday soon the sun was gonna shine/ And he was right, this love of mine/ My valentine,” Babs coos on the opening verse before Sir Paul, takes over to sing, “As days and nights would pass me by/ I’d tell myself that I was...

The Hag’s seventh No.1 featured such great players as James Burton and Jim Gordon.Merle Haggard’s reputation as the champion of the working class was further cemented on May 16, 1969. That day, he was at Capitol Records’ studios in Hollywood with an A-list of musicians that comprised the Strangers, recording the great “Workin’ Man Blues.” It went on to become the seventh in an incredible total of 24 country No.1s amassed by “The Hag” in just ten years. Haggard’s tough upbringing, including time in San Quentin for a robbery conviction, and his unshakeable principles as a man of the people,...

Cannes (France) (AFP) – Hollywood heavyweights Joaquin Phoenix, Pedro Pascal, Riz Ahmed and Guillermo del Toro have added their names to a letter condemning the film industry's silence on what it called "genocide" in Gaza, the organisers confirmed Friday. The petition, signed by more than 370 actors and filmmakers, also denounced Israel's killing of Fatima Hassouna, the young Gaza photojournalist featured in the documentary "Put Your Soul in Your Hand and Walk", which premiered at the Cannes film festival Thursday. The organisers of the letter said the French actor Juliette Binoche, who is chairing the jury at Cannes, also added...

My latest song. I hope you don't think that I'm trying to curry favor.

Charles Strouse, 96, the celebrated and multi-award-winning American film, television, and Broadway musical composer, responsible for such legendary songs as “Put on a Happy Face,” “Tomorrow,” “Those Were the Days,” and many others, died at his home in New York City on May 15. His career spanned over seven decades, during which time he created some of Broadway’s most beloved and enduring works, including three Tony Award-winning musicals, Bye Bye Birdie, Applause, and Annie, as well as the Tony-nominated Golden Boy, Charlie & Algernon, Rags, and Nick & Nora. The news was announced today by his four children, Benjamin, Nicholas,...

/> Night of the Living Dead, the horror classic that birthed the modern zombie genre, is getting a reboot, and writer LaToya Morgan has now confirmed that the screenplay is complete. With rising filmmaker Nikyatu Jusu attached to direct, the project is one of the most anticipated horror reimaginings in recent memory. Originally released in 1968 and directed by the legendary godfather of zombies, George A. Romero, Night of the Living Dead broke ground for its depiction of a zombie outbreak. Now, more than five decades later, this new sequel, which seeks to restart the franchise, promises to carry...

Rock megastar Bruce Springsteen has made a series of critical remarks about US President Donald Trump and the policies of his administration, calling the American leader “unfit” for office. “The mighty E Street Band is here tonight to call upon the righteous power of art, of music, of rock n’ roll in dangerous times,” Springsteen said at the beginning of a concert in Manchester, northern England, on Wednesday. “In my home, the America I love — the America I’ve written about that has been a beacon of hope and liberty for 250 years — is currently in the hands of...

When word emerged last year that Nicholas Cage will take a break from making a nonstop string of movies to play John Madden in yet another movie, it was a curiosity. We didn’t know then what we know now. Christian Bale appears in the same film, as the legendary Al Davis. Cage has been in some things that, well, aren’t good. Bale’s work rarely lands in that category. The mere mention of Bale’s name gives Madden cachet. Up the ying yang. (If you’re never seen The Prestige, what are you waiting for? If you start now, you will have...

For years, Christian media has often been viewed as a backwater source—like something seen in a Saturday Night Live skit. A source for snickers, but not for sensible information. But, as Dr. Ted Baehr, the publisher of “Movieguide,” likes to say in effect, “The good news is: The bad news is wrong.”

Austin, TX psych-sludge act Lord Buffalo have been forced to cancel their upcoming European tour after drummer Yamal Said was detained by U.S. Customs and Border Protection on Monday, May 12th at Dallas Fort Worth International Airport. The band explained that Said, a Mexican citizen and U.S. green card holder, was forcibly removed from the flight while attempting to travel to Europe. The exact circumstances of the detainment remain unclear, but the band confirmed that the situation has made it impossible to continue with the planned tour. The Austin Chronicle reports that Said has lived in Austin, TX since the...

Dusty Springfield made her way into the heart of 1960s swinging London with the British trio The Springfields. Her solo hits include "You Don't Have to Say You Love Me" (1966) and "Son of a Preacher Man" (1969). After a bout with drugs and alcohol, she saw her career resurrected with the 1987 Pet Shop Boys song "What Have I Done to Deserve This?" and the soundtrack to the 1988 film Scandal.

John Edwards, a former lead singer for legendary R&B and soul group The Spinners, died Sunday. He was 80. Edwards, who stepped into the spotlight after Philippé Wynne’s departure, carried the group’s legacy forward with grace and soul, according to a post on The Spinners’ official Instagram page. A cause of death has not been revealed. Edwards, who was with the group from 1977 to 2000, was praised in the post for not only meeting expectations but elevating the group’s sound during a new era. He was the group’s last founding member to still be alive. “We mourn the loss...

For more than half a century, there was just one place on the UC Berkeley campus where you’d run into 20-year-old Aaron Rodgers rocking a bowl cut, see a stand-up set from comedy legend Robin Williams or hear Grateful Dead icon Jerry Garcia perform live. The Bear’s Lair — Berkeley’s only on-campus pub — was both the only bar with beer dripping from the ceiling after a Jason Kidd-led Cal team shocked Duke in the NCAA Tournament and the only location that made any sense to drop off the torn-down goal post following the 2002 Big Game (I remember, because...

Here’s a question for ya: is anyone under 40 still watching late-night talk shows? And even more to the point: is anyone under 40 who isn’t a flaming liberal still tuning in to Kimmel, Colbert, or Fallon? We’d bet the answer is probably “NO.” Sure, media is changing. Podcasts are exploding. Legacy formats are fading; just look at how X has exploded. But the real reason late-night is dying is multifaceted, and one big reason is Stage 5 Trump Derangement Syndrome. These shows aren’t just outdated; they’ve become downright insufferable. It’s the same tired punchlines. The same smug sneering. The...

Looking forward to The Five this afternoon on FOX, and hoping Harold Ford is on. I wonder if he will eat his words concerning his take on the tariffs.

Despite the ‘album era’ fast approaching its approximate 60th anniversary, the lauded rock heritage that deified stadium monsters such as Led Zeppelin or The Rolling Stones as the paragons of musical achievement and authentic expression still looms over a pop climate that’s undergone seismic creative and social shifts across the last half-century. It won’t be too long before the cultural totems that still command such collective veneration, rock and roll, Woodstock, and AOR, will all cease to be living memories sooner than you think. With Rolling Stone‘s ‘rockist’ residue still colouring many muso’s quality metrics and indication of a healthy...

“Dad was not only a legendary musician whose artistry touched millions around the world, but also a deeply loved husband, father, uncle and brother,” Rodriguez’s daughter, Aubry, shared on social media.Johnny Rodriguez, the chart-topping Hispanic country music star and “That’s the Way Love Goes” singer, has died. He was 73. Rodriguez’s daughter, Aubry Rodriguez, announced his death on social media on Friday. “Dad was not only a legendary musician whose artistry touched millions around the world, but also a deeply loved husband, father, uncle and brother whose warmth, humor, and compassion shaped the lives of all who knew him,”...

Country-music star Johnny Rodriguez, a popular Mexican-American singer best known for chart-topping hits in the 1970s, including “I Just Can’t Get Her Out of My Mind,” “Ridin’ My Thumb to Mexico” and “That’s the Way Love Goes,” has died. He was 73. Rodriguez died Friday, according to social media statements posted by his daughter, Aubry Rodriguez. She said he died peacefully and surrounded by family. “Dad was not only a legendary musician whose artistry touched millions around the world, but also a deeply loved husband, father, uncle, and brother whose warmth, humor, and compassion shaped the lives of all who...

Pirro in Power: The Left Can’t Even Right Now May 9, 2025

The story behind the jazz legend’s final hit and, quite simply, one of the most beautiful songs ever written.The legendary New Orleans singer and trumpeter Louis “Satchmo” Armstrong had been making records since 1923, but in 1967 he released “What A Wonderful World,” which would become the biggest-selling song of his long and storied career. Though renowned as one of the pioneers of Dixieland-style jazz in the 1920s, Armstrong was no stranger to the pop charts in the 1960s, having topped Billboard’s Hot 100 with the Grammy-winning single, “Hello Dolly,” in 1964. But “What A Wonderful World” was very...