Nine-time Grammy winner Mary J. Blige and world-renowned pop tenor Andrea Bocelli joined forces and performed live together in a special fund-raising segment for Haiti relief on the 52nd Annual Grammy Awards. This once-in-a-lifetime performance of the Paul Simon’s “Bridge Over Troubled Water” is available for download at iTunes.com/Target, and all proceeds will go to the American Red Cross, benefiting ongoing earthquake relief efforts in Haiti.
Paul Simon remarked “Over the years, I’ve heard many covers of my song, Bridge Over Troubled Water and I’m always flattered that people have chosen to interpret it. Watching Andrea Bocelli and Mary J. Blige’s heartfelt rendition on this past Sunday’s Grammys was incredibly moving for me. The fact that the proceeds from purchasing this version on iTunes will be donated to the people of Haiti makes this even more special.”
Speakeasy is behind the scenes at the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame 25th Anniversary show tonight. (Read our earlier interview with Rock & Roll Hall of Fame CEO Joel Peresman.) We’re camped backstage, with the rest of the press, at Madison Square Garden, and will reporting back on all the acts as they go on stage. Follow us throughout the night for updates!
6:45 p.m. — Tom Hanks takes the mic in the press room and addresses what he calls the most jaded group of writers in New York right now. He oh-so-eloquently calls the night’s line-up — which consists of Bruce Springsteen, Simon & Garfunkel, Stevie Wonder, and Crosby, Stills and Nash, plus many, many others — “the music of our generation, the soundtrack of our lives.” He adds that he’s not a massive music aficionado. “I did it for the all access pass,” he says. “I don’t know what to say to half these guys other than wow. I’m lucky to be here.” Читать далее »
A couple of weeks ago, I watched a Georgia Public Television special commemorating Paul Simon’s Gershwin Prize for Popular Song from the Library of Congress. It was a great show recorded back in 2007 at the Warner Theatre in Washington, D.C.
Simon teamed with Stevie Wonder, Ladysmith Black Mambazo, Yolanda Adams, Marc Anthony, Dixie Hummingbirds, James Taylor, Buckwheat Zydeco and others. Читать далее »
In an airy classroom in Astoria, Queens, one cold January afternoon, Blanca Bohorquez was making her way through an English-language exercise, filling in occasional blanks on a sheet of lyrics to “Bridge Over Troubled Water,” which played on a stereo nearby. Читать далее »
