After waiting a quarter of a century for Barry Manilow to return to the Broadway stage, Fanilows had to wait a little while longer after the show was postponed due to the singer suffering from bronchitis. The show was postponed only briefly though, and now dates have been added in March to make up for them. And for Fanilows lucky enough to attend, Barry says this is one of his most intimate settings ever.

“It’s a totally different feeling from the stage,” says Barry when talking about performing at the St. James Theatre which seats only 1,710, as opposed to big stadium tours. “I’m in their laps; they’re in my lap. It’s very, very intimate.”

The show, Manilow on Broadway, officially opened on January 29 after Barry had recovered from his illness and it will run until March 2. Fans can expect all of the greatest hits including “Could It Be Magic,” “Mandy,” “Copacabana,” and “Can’t Smile Without You.” But, Barry also promises that the songs have been revamped to make them still classic, but with a few new twists.

“Every few years, I go back into all the songs and I update them so that it never sounds like an oldies show. If you come to the shows, they’re full of muscle. ‘Copacabana’ sounds like it could have been released yesterday,” he says.

But Barry’s not going to stop when this Broadway run ends. He’ll still be traveling around performing shows on the weekends, and he’s got two new albums in the works as well. He’s also currently working on his own musical called Harmony, a show for which he’s writing the original songs.

“I’m old as the hills and you would think I’d be out to pasture someplace because I’ve done everything. But nothing has changed,” he recently said. “I’m still hungry. I’ve still got a million ideas. I’m still strong and ready to create.”

Just a year ago, Mindy McCready posted a personal message of hope and determination, claiming that while she had had her struggles, they were behind her now and she was ready to move forward. To continue fighting. To still be here. But a lot can happen in a year, and last night the world learned it had become too much for Mindy. Tragically, she is no longer here after apparently committing suicide.

Last year Mindy’s message to her fans read, “I haven’t had a hit in almost a decade. I’ve spent my fortune, tarnished my public view and made myself the brunt of punch line after punch line. But I’m still here. I’ve been here before. I’m a fighter. I’m down, but I’ll never be out.”

But while McCready had seen her fair share of the battles over the past ten years, not even she could have predicted what was coming. After breaking onto the country music scene in 1996, she quickly fell into the downward spiral that so many stars do. Plagued with substance abuse problems, depression, and even spending time in jail, McCready was a star that people continued to root for, even though it seemed she was about to lose it all.

Then in the past few years, she truly did.

In 2011 she kidnapped her oldest son, after losing custody of him to her mother. That boy is the child of Billy McKnight, who went to prison for attempting to murder McCready back in 2004 — around the same time she was charged with trying to illegally obtaining OxyContin.

McCready also had a 10-month old son, who was the son of record producer David Wilson. Just last month, Wilson committed suicide on the porch of their Arkansas home. With the pain obviously being too much to bear, last night McCready sat on that same porch and apparently killed herself with a shotgun, just like Wilson. It was sadly her fourth suicide attempt since 2005.

Everyone loves the story of King Arthur and his knights of the Round Table; and even more so when it’s “lovingly ripped off from the classic film comedy Monty Python and the Holy Grail.” That’s why the current tour of Monty Python’s Spamalot is one of the biggest hits to come to American theaters in a long time. And it might be coming to one near you!

The theater show, which depicts King Arthur and his knights, as well as the honor and loyalty that was the backbone of the Round Table, brings hilarity every step of the way. While the story itself is always a fun one to revisit, Monty Python’s take on it always delivers, and this includes a brilliant cast — not to mention some cows and killer rabbits along the way, as well.

Arthur Rowan and Abigail Raye return to their roles as King Arthur and Lady of the Lake, respectively; and Glenn Giron will also be resuming his role as Patsy, after being on hiatus for a year. Adam Grabau takes on many faces during the play including that of Sir Lancelot, The French Taunter, King Ni, and Tim the Enchanter. Kasidy Devlin will also be back to take up the roles of both Sir Robin and Brother Maynard.

The musical brings an entirely new score created by Eric Idle and John Du Prez; and the book was written by Eric Idle. The show is currently in Raleigh, North Carolina for the next week before heading off to Texas, New Mexico, and Illinois. You can find a full listing of shows here, and then get your tickets to one closest to you. This is one that you can’t miss!

The Beach Boys have always been known to bring some big drama to the stage, and so news of a new tour, starting in just over a week, shouldn’t be any different.

Last year the Beach Boys made huge news when they scheduled a 50th anniversary tour, and kicked it all off by performing at The Grammy’s together. But while things may have seemed quite chummy on-stage, it wasn’t too long before The Boys cancelled their 50th anniversary tour early. Long-held grievances between Brian Wilson and Mike Love, founding members of the band, were brought back up and, unbeknownst to the rest of the band, things were cut short.

Now, there’s a new tour planned, and it shouldn’t surprise you that the lineup will not include Brian Wilson, Al Jardine, or David Marks. Instead it will be just Mike Love and Bruce Johnston, as it’s Johnston that holds the rights to the name.

At the time the anniversary tour was cancelled, Love issued a statement indicating that he had plans to tour with Johnston alone. “As we move on, Bruce and I look forward to performing live for Beach Boys fans everywhere,” it said.

But apparently, some promoters didn’t get the message. Several had booked the Beach Boys for this upcoming tour, but then cancelled after finding out it was just Johnston and Love.

Just to make things even more confusing, Love will be performing one confirmed solo date (with more possibly coming,) and he’ll be inviting Al Jardine and David Marks to perform with him.

For a full list of current confirmed dates for the Beach Boys concerts, visit StubPass.com.

Jim Belushi is a consummate comedian. He can joke around about anything. His recent comment in the Chicago Sun-Times is just a sampling. He proudly admitted to being a pill-popper. For an entertainer, that is probably not an unusual admonition. Being in his 50s, you’d probably assume that the entertainer had done more than his fair share of pills. Then he went on to explain the comment with his laundry list of medical complaints that required daily medications.

Not funny? That’s what makes Jim Belushi’s special brand of comedy so wonderful. He can take the things that make most of us wince and bring humor to them. He makes us smile at his and our own difficulties and short comings.

Born in 1958, the 58 year old Belushi is a native of the Chicago area. Born and raised in the near suburb of Wheaton, he went to high school there and then went on to the College of DuPage and finally Southern Illinois University at Carbondale graduating with a degree in speech and theater. He cut his comedy teeth at the famous Second City comedy club from 1977 to 1980. Jim wasn’t alone in his quest for success in the entertainment field. Big brother John Belushi paved the way for the young Jim, also starting out as a comedian at Second City and making a huge splash as one of the sunglass wearing Blues Brothers. However, Jim had to find his own path after his big brother met an untimely death at the very young 33 from a hard life of real pills and a variety of other drugs and alcohol. Jim did indeed go on to make his own stamp on the business and find a way to make his goals a reality

For years Mr. Belushi has covered every area of entertainment from movies and sit-coms to his marvelous stand up shows. He’s been a fairly regular on the iconic Saturday Night Live and has been in movies such as Trading Places, K-9 and Curly Sue. Even though he’s numerous movies have made him a formidable force as an actor, he has also enjoyed long standing popularity for his TV series, “According to Jim.” You can check out Jim Belushi’s Chicago great comedy style at a Chicago area performance at the beautiful Rialto Square Theater right here.

Come see the Jersey Boys, an award winning musical about one of the biggest musical groups of the 1960s, live in 2013! The Jersey Boys is a musical, done documentary style, about the 1960s musical sensation The Four Seasons.

The show opened in 2005, and has toured America, Europe, Australia, Singapore, and Africa. The Singapore production of Jersey Boys features an all South African cast, and these shows will start in Johannesburg, South Africa in the spring of 2013.
The Broadway production of Jersey Boys has run for more than 22oo performances, the 25th longest running show appearing in the history of Broadway. The first national tour for the production began on December 10th of 2006. After performing in San Francisco and Los Angeles, a second company of actors debuted and performed until September of 2007, before starting a run of performances in Chicago.

December of 2010 was the 4th anniversary of the award winning show, and they kicked off another run of shows in San Francisco’s Curran Theatre. The show has broken box office records in Philadelphia, and has played to crowds of enthusiastic fans in Boston.

The show is frequently performed in Las Vegas, in the recently constructed Jersey Boys Theater at the Palazzo Hotel. The London debut, held in the Prince Edward Theatre, happened in 2008, and this production won the Laurence Olivier Award for Best New Musical.

The show was also produced and performed in Australia, and their production has received a lot of praise from audiences there. Shows began in 2009 at the Princess Theatre of Melbourne, and then closed in 2010. That September, they began performances in Sydney, which closed in 2011. From there they went to Auckland, and that production lasted until June of 2012.

The story is that of the Four Seasons musical group and chronicles their formation, rise to stardom, and eventual break up. As such, the show is presented in chapters, called “seasons”, with each being represented by a different member of the group’s point of view. If you would like to see an award winning show, with great music and a compelling story, then go see this one. Tickets are on sale now, and you won’t be disappointed.

People are still talking about the show put on last year for the MTV European Music Awards in Frankfurt, Germany. But this year’s show is going to top even that, with the new home the EMAs have found in Amsterdam! Very few details have been given just yet, but it has been confirmed that on November 10 the ceremony for the 20th annual European Music Awards will be held at the Ziggo Dome in Amsterdam. And everyone is very excited!

“We’re very excited to partner with the city of Amsterdam, a true world class music city and top destination for artists,” said Bruce Gillmer, Executive Vice President of Talent and Music Programming/Events at Viacom International Media Networks. “Each year the MTV EMA celebrates the biggest names in music from every corner of the globe and showcases unbelievable performances from today’s most exciting acts.”

And he’s not wrong. Last year Justin Bieber, One Direction, Taylor Swift, Rihanna, and The Killers were just some of the most notable names in attendance, with many of those same performers taking the stage. This year, the ante on those performers could be pushed even higher considering the stage on which they’ll take place.

“Amsterdam, and the cutting edge Ziggo Dome, with its state of the art facilities, will be the perfect setting for what will be a very memorable and spectacular 2013 MTV EMA,” said Gillmer when confirming the location yesterday.

Last year the nominations weren’t announced until September, with performing acts being even later. So it will likely be several months before we get much more word than that. Who do you think will be performing and/or nominated? And do you think Heidi Klum will host again? If so, how many outfits do you think she’ll wear this time? (It was six last year!)

We all fell in love with Scotty McCreery during the tenth season of American Idol, of which he was crowned the winner. Shortly after that season McCreery went out on the road with some of his own biggest country idols including Brad Paisley and The Band Perry. But fans wanted more. They wanted to see Scotty in his own headlining tour and now, they’ve got it!

Scotty’s first headlining tour is called the “Weekend Roadtrip Tour 2013,” and it will all kick off on Valentine’s Day, February 14, in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. From there he’ll visit some of the biggest cities in North American including Niagara Falls, Kansas City, and Atlantic City to name just a few. It all wraps up on May 12 in Morristown, New Jersey, and you can find all of Scotty tour dates and cities at StubPass.com.

But while fans may be pumped about seeing Scotty take the stage on his own, no one is more excited than the artist himself.

“I’ve been lucky enough to play a lot of great cities over the last year with Brad Paisley and some other great country artists,” he said when announcing the tour. “This time I get to play some new places with a show that’s all my own. I can’t wait for my fans to see what we’ve lined up for them.”

Unfortunately, the tour is probably going to be too early for fans to hear any of the new music off his sophomore album, which is to be released later this year. But, Scotty says, that record will be one more chance for fans to get to know him as an artist.

“I just want people to really see me this time,” he said. “I don’t want to get caught up in sappy love songs; those are important, but I want them to get a feel for who I am as an artist and sing about real things in life. Hopefully we’ll get that with the songs and have some fun with it as well.”

If you want to have some fun with Scotty, get your tickets for his headlining tour today!

Tim McGraw is going on tour this summer, and it might just end up being one of the coolest experiences his fans have ever had. Hitting up some of the biggest amphitheatres in some of the biggest cities, McGraw will also be bringing some big guests along; and is relying on fans to spread the word during promotion.

The Two Lanes of Freedom tour kicks off on May 2 in Birmingham, Alberta and from there McGraw will travel through Charlotte, Tampa, Pittsburgh, Indianapolis, Salt Lake City, and Boston, to name just a few. It will wrap up on July 7 in Virginia Beach, and a full listing of dates and cities can be found here.

The tour will support Tim’s latest album of the same name, which is due out in February. And just as all the stars are doing these days, McGraw took to his YouTube channel earlier this week to announce the tour; and the unique way that fans can help.

“This album marks a new sense of excitement and artistic freedom for me and I really wanted to extend that same feeling to the tour and create a cool vibe for the fans,” McGraw said. “We’ve started working up new songs from the album, and there’s some really cool stuff we’ll be able to pull out this summer.”

Some of that “cool stuff” the country singer has drummed up for fans is the “Fanticipation” program. Through this tour element, certain fans will be contacted by Tim McGraw himself via Tumblr to let them know when tickets will be going on sale in their hometown. He’s counting on fans to spread the word through Tumblr and other social media outlets, allowing them to have full control of the process.

Brantley Gilbert and Love & Theft will be supporting Tim on the tour; and in the meanwhile, Tim will be busy with other gigs. Those include joining his wife, Faith Hill, onstage at the Venetian in Las Vegas for a handful of Soul2Soul shows. While fans wanted the couple to take this show on the road, too, Tim says they’re just enjoying what they have for the moment.

“We just couldn’t do it,” he told Billboard earlier this month. “This was a way we could play together and only be gone one or two nights a month.”

On Tuesday, David Bowie celebrated his 66th birthday, and he rang his newest year in with fine style. Coming as a complete surprise to fans, Bowie released a new single — the first music to be heard from the iconic rocker in a decade! And now, fans are eagerly anticipating the album from which the new track came from.

The first song from the album, The Next Day, is titled “Where Are We Now?” an appropriately titled track since fans have largely been wondering where Bowie’s been for the past ten years. To go along with the song, a video was also released which is strange and artistic, and moving and mysterious all at the same time. You can view the official version posted on YouTube here.

Tony Visconti, who’s been producing Bowie’s work since early in his career, says that the “Where Are We Now?” track is a very slow ballad depicting a very “inward” look at Bowie. He also says that fans shouldn’t expect this from the entire album, as it mostly consists of the pure good rock and roll that fans have come to expect from Bowie.

Fans will find out for themselves though, after the album is released on March 12. There has currently been nothing said from Bowie’s camp as to whether or not this album will have an accompanying tour. But, after getting fans so excited with this newest music, would David Bowie really stop there?