Guilty pleasures
By NewsPress Now
Rock & Roll HOF turns up starpower to induct Cher, Foreigner and more
CLEVELAND | Hollywood stars Julia Roberts and Zendaya bookended Saturday’s inductions into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, giving a little stardust to an eclectic lineup that included pop icon Cher, heavy metal’s Ozzy Osbourne, hip-hop soul queen Mary J. Blige, soft rockers Foreigner and 83-year-old soul icon Dionne Warwick.
It was a five-hour-plus show that also honored hip-hop trailblazers A Tribe Called Quest, punk pioneers the MC5, the effortless dance music of Kool & the Gang, the soft rock of Foreigner, the beach bum tunes of Jimmy Buffett and the jam band fusion of Dave Matthews Band.
Dua Lipa opened the show singing Cher’s “Believe” before the 78-year-old icon joined her onstage, giving way to Zendaya who noted that Cher is the only woman to have a No. 1 hit on a Billboard chart in each of the past seven decades. “Cher has got the goods,” Zendaya said before Cher performed a rocking version of “If I Could Turn Back Time.”
In her speech, Cher thanked her mother for instilling in her to always get back up after defeat. “I never give up,” she said. “I’m talking to the women — down and out, we keep going.”
Roberts helped induct Dave Matthews Band — she’s a self-avowed superfan and she appeared in the band’s video for the 2005 single, “Dreamgirl.” Roberts, wearing a band T-shirt, said the appeal of the group is “spontaneous abandon,” adding the first time she danced with her husband was to one ofn their songs.
The jam band, with their mix of funk, folk-rock, jazz, blues and pop, then played “Ants Marching” — asking the crowd to sing the chorus — “Crash” and “So Much to Say.” The arena was still full when they hit the stage after midnight, with the crowd singing along and swaying.
Matthews hugged Roberts, handed out the trophies to his bandmates, and called the class of 2024 impressive. “We’re swimming in very deep water here,” he said. He thanked the current and former band members and the bar owner who gave them a home in Charlottesville, Virginia. When he thanked the fans, they roared back.
Dr Dre inducted Blige, who is credited with creating a completely new category of music — hip-hop soul. The nine-time Grammy-winner’s best-known song is “Family Affair” from her triple-platinum 2001 album “No More Drama.” “When you listen to Mary, you understand you’re not alone in heartbreak,” Dre said.
Blige, wearing shiny black hat, a sparkly dress and long black gloves and boots, sang a mix of her hits, including “Love No Limit,” “Be Happy” and “Family Affair.” At the end of her set, a dancer brought up a cloak to wrap around her, in an echo of James Brown. “Move with grace. Trust the journey,” she advised. “You are worthy.”
Chuck D inducted Kool & the Gang, saying “This is a long-due celebration.” The band had 12 Top 10 hits on the Billboard Hot 100 including the 1980 chart-topper “Celebration” as well as “Cherish,” “Get Down On It,” “Jungle Boogie,” “Ladies Night” and “Joanna.” They’ve been eligible for the hall since 1994.
The Roots helped the band do a medley of hits that got the crowd grooving led by Robert “Kool” Bell — bass guitarist, co-founder and last original member — and longtime singer James “JT” Taylor. Confetti shot into the arena and Taylor asked the crowd to use their cellphone lights as he read off the names of 10 members who were critical to the band’s success.
Warwick arrived at the ceremony only a few days after attending a memorial to her longtime friend and collaborator, Cissy Houston. Teyana Taylor called her “truly one of a kind” as well as telling off the teleprompter operator for not putting “Ms.” before her name. Jennifer Hudson sang “I’ll Never Love This Way Again” and was joined by Warwick, who also sang “Walk On By.”
Warwick said this year was the third time she was nominated for the Hall. “I am so pleased to be here,” she said. “I’m just going to say this and get off the stage: Thank you, thank you, thank you.”
Dave Chappelle helped induct A Tribe Called Quest — Q-Tip, Jarobi, Ali Shaheed Muhammad and the late Phife Dawg — the lone hip-hop group to make the cut this year. Chappelle said the group incorporated “jazz and soul in a way hip-hop had never seen.” Queen Latifah, Busta Rhymes, Common, The Roots and De La Soul were on hand to perform a medley of Tribe hits, including “Bonita Applebum,” “Scenario” and “Can I Kick It?”
Sammy Hagar introduced Foreigner, and thanked their fans for their tenacity to demand inclusion. The English-American rockers — with hits like “Cold as Ice,” and “Waiting for a Girl Like You” — topped the charts in the 1970s and ‘80s but never made it into the Hall — much less a ballot — until last year, despite being eligible for more than 20 years.
Hagar noted that Foreigner currently tours without any original members. “That’s how good the songs are,” he said. “Who deserves this more than Foreigner?” Demi Lovato and Slash joined the touring Foreigner for “Feels Like the First Time” and Hagar then took lead for “Hot Blooded.” Kelly Clarkson thrilled with a powerful “I Want to Know What Love Is” but the arena erupted when original singer Lou Gramm joined her.
Saturday’s induction ceremony was at the Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse in Cleveland, where the Hall has promised to return to every few years. A TV special with performance highlights will air on ABC on Jan. 1.
Roger Daltrey of The Who inducted Frampton. “It’s about bloody time!” he said. “Peter has had the most amazing career of all time. It’s probably easier to name the people he hasn’t worked with than the people he has,” Daltrey said.
Frampton earned his way into the Hall in large part on the strength of his 1976 live double album “Frampton Comes Alive!,” buoyed by the hit songs “Show Me the Way” and “Baby, I Love Your Way.” Daltrey noted Frampton has always played with a wide smile.
A fittingly grinning Frampton — who played at last year’s ceremony to honor Sheryl Crow — brought on Keith Urban to trade licks on “Do You Feel Like I Do” and showed why he is considered one of rock’s great guitarists. He hooked up his famous talk box effect and the crowd roared.
Dave Matthews — before his band’s inducement — helped honor Buffett with an acoustic version of the late singer-songwriter’s “A Pirate Looks at Forty.” James Taylor then came out to call Buffett — who popularized beach bum soft rock with the escapist song “Margaritaville” — “larger-than-life but at the same time right-sized and always authentic.” Taylor, Kenny Chesney and Mac McAnally then performed Buffett’s “Come Monday.”
Musician-actor Jack Black toasted Osbourne, saying that “heaven opened up above me” when he first listened to the album “Blizzard of Ozz.” Black called Osbourne “the Jack Nicholson of rock” and joked that his reality TV show “The Osbournes” was possibly “the most evil thing he ever did.”
Osbourne, seated in a throne, credited the late guitarist Randy Rhoads and his wife, Sharon, for his career and life. This is the second time Ozzy has entered the Hall, the first time being in 2006 with the seminal metal band Black Sabbath. A tribute band to the Prince of Darkness — including Jelly Roll, Billy Idol, Maynard James Keenan, Wolfgang Van Halen, Steve Stevens and Robert Trujillo — played “Crazy Train,” “Mama, I’m Coming Home” and “No More Tears.”
The In Memoriam section included tributes, among others, to Kris Kristofferson, Cissy Houston, David Sanborn and Liam Payne. Dave Matthews Band performed “Burning Down the House” from the Talking Heads as fans filled out.
‘Smile 2’ grinning to No. 1 at box office while ‘Anora’ glitters in limited release
Horror movies topped the domestic box office charts and an Oscar contender got off to a sparkling start this weekend. “Smile 2,” in its first weekend, and “Terrifier 3” in its second proved to be the big draws for general movie audiences in North America, while the Palme d’Or winner”Anora” got the best per-theater average in over a year.
“Smile 2” was the big newcomer, taking first place with a better than expected $23 million, according to studio estimates Sunday. Parker Finn returned to write and direct the sequel to the supernatural horror “Smile,” his debut. Originally intended for streaming, Paramount pivoted and sent the movie to theaters in the fall of 2022. “Smile” became a sleeper hit at the box office, earning some $217 million against a $17 million budget.
The sequel, starring Naomi Scott as a pop star, was rewarded with a bit of a bigger budget, and a theatrical commitment from the start. Playing on 3,619 screens, it opened slightly higher than the first’s $22 million.
Second place went to Universal and DreamWorks Animation’s “The Wild Robot” in its fourth weekend with $10.1 million, bumping it past $100 million in North America. Family films often have long lives in theaters, particularly ones as well reviewed as “The Wild Robot,” and some have speculated that it got a bump this weekend from teenagers buying tickets for the PG-rated family film and then sneaking into “Terrifier 3,” which is not rated, instead. Either way, Damien Leone’s demon clown movie, which cost only $2 million to produce, is doing more than fine with legitimate ticket buyers. It added an estimated $9.3 million, bringing its total to $36.2 million.
“Rumors like that are PR gold,” said Paul Dergarabedian, the senior media analyst for Comscore. “There’s no better indication that that movie is red hot right now.”
The No. 1 openings for “Smile 2” this weekend and “Terrifier 3” last were only possible because of the failure of “Joker: Folie à Deux.” That big budget sequel continued its death march in its third weekend, falling another 69% to earn $2.2 million, bringing its domestic total to $56.4 million.
Warner Bros. has a better performer in “Beetlejuice Beetlejuice,” which placed fourth in its seventh weekend with an additional $5 million, bringing its domestic total to $284 million. Star Michael Keaton also had another film open this weekend — the father-daughter dramedy “Goodrich” which stumbled in with only $600,000 from 1,055 locations.
Rounding out the top five was the romantic tearjerker “We Live In Time,” which expanded to 985 theaters following last weekend’s debut on 5 screens. The A24 release starring Andrew Garfield and Florence Pugh earned $4.2 million over the weekend. Audiences were 85% under 35 and 70% female, according to exit polls. The well-reviewed film will expand further next weekend.
One of the other brightest spots of the weekend was Sean Baker’s “Anora,” which opened in six locations in New York and Los Angeles and earned an estimated $630,000. That’s a $105,000 per theater average, the best since “Asteroid City’s” $142,000 average last summer. The Neon release, a sensation at Cannes and a likely Oscar contender, stars Mikey Madison as a New York sex worker who falls for the son of a Russian oligarch.
After several weeks of would-be awards contenders and buzzy films (“Piece by Piece,” “Saturday Night,” “The Apprentice” among them) fizzling with audiences, “Anora’s” success is a promising sign that moviegoers will still seek out arty, adult fare.
“For moviegoers, there’s a lot on offer with something in every type of movie in every category,” Dergarabedian said. “I think we’re going to have a really strong home stretch with a great combination of movies big and small.”
The Walt Disney Co. also made a splash with several re-releases. “The Nightmare Before Christmas” got a place in the top 10 with $1.1 million, while “Hocus Pocus” made $841,000.
Next weekend will have a major studio comic book movie with “Venom: The Last Dance” as well as an awards movie in the papal thriller “Conclave” vying for audience attention.
Singer Zayn postpones U.S. tour after the death of Liam Payne
English singer Zayn Malik on Saturday postponed a planned tour to the U.S. following the death of his former One Direction bandmate Liam Payne.
Zayn, as the singer often goes by, said on the social platform X that he made the decision “Given the heartbreaking loss experienced this week.”
He said the dates for the U.S. leg of his “Stairway to the Sky” tour would be rescheduled for January and he would post the new dates within the coming days.
Zayn had gigs scheduled next week in San Francisco and Las Vegas, and the following week in Los Angeles, Washington D.C. and New York.
“Your tickets will remain valid for the new dates,” Zayn wrote. “Love you all and thank you for your understanding.”
Payne, 31, was found dead Wednesday after falling from a hotel balcony in Buenos Aires. His death prompted an outpouring of shock and sadness from friends, collaborators and fellow musicians.
Payne’s sister Ruth Gibbins was the latest to share her thoughts in an Instagram tribute.
“I don’t believe this is happening. Many times have I poured my heart out publicly with pride about Liam but never much about life as his sister,” she wrote.
She said her brother was “born with music in his veins” and that what she loved most about him was his ability to make her laugh.
“I don’t feel this world was good enough or kind enough to you,” she wrote.
One Direction was the internet’s first boy band with a level of fame comparable to Beatlemania. Band members in their teens had to cope with their sudden fame and then navigate a breakup while trying to build solo careers.
The exact circumstances of Payne’s death remain unclear although Argentine authorities said there were suspicious elements and drugs were possibly involved. The results of toxicology tests are expected in the coming weeks. Payne had acknowledged struggling with alcoholism, saying in a YouTube video posted in July 2023 that he had been sober for six months after receiving treatment.
—From AP reports
