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Tag: Barbra Streisand

  • Keira Knightley in Talks to Play Catherine the Great in Barbra Streisand-Directed Film

    Keira Knightley is reportedly in talks to play Catherine the Great in an upcoming film directed by Barbra Streisand.

    This isn’t recent news, however, although the press didn’t grab wind of it until recently. It was last year when Keira Knightley first met with Streisand to discuss the project. The Hollywood Reporter says talks are progressing slowly.

    Catherine the Great was born Sophia Augusta Fredericka, and wound up the longest-ruling female ruler of Russia. The as-yet unnamed biopic will follow her life, including her marriage to abusive husband Emperor Peter III, and her eventual rise to power.

    This biopic will mark the fourth film directed by Barbra Streisand.

    In addition to this possible upcoming role, Keira Knightley has starred in The Pirates of the Caribbean, The Imitation Game, Anna Karenina, and Pride & Prejudice. She recently joined the cast of Collateral Beauty alongside Helen Mirren, Will Smith, Edward Norton, Naomie Harris, and Michael Pena.

    Can you imagine Keira Knightley in this role as Catherine the Great? She has certainly proven herself in period films.

    Fans will have to wait until December 17, however, as it’s not slated to hit the big screen until then.

  • Janet Jackson Makes History With Seventh Number One Album, “Unbreakable”

    Janet Jackson has made history with her seventh album, “Unbreakable,” hitting the number one spot on the Billboard 200 albums chart. She is only the third act to have number one albums in each of the last four decades.

    Only Barbra Streisand and Madonna are ahead of Janet Jackson in this number one albums’ race.

    “Unbreakable” is Janet Jackson’s first album since “Discipline” was released in 2008. It is her eleventh studio album.

    Check out the following statistics Billboard shares about Janet Jackson’s latest album.

    The Billboard 200 chart ranks the most popular albums of the week based on multi-metric consumption, which includes traditional album sales, track equivalent albums (TEA) and streaming equivalent albums (SEA).

    The new Oct. 24-dated chart (where Jackson is No. 1) will be posted in full to Billboard’s Web sites on Tuesday, Oct. 13.

    Unbreakable — which was released on Oct. 2 — arrives atop the chart with 116,000 equivalent album units earned in the week ending Oct. 8, according to Nielsen Music. Of that sum, the set sold 109,000 in pure album sales.

    Unbreakable is Jackson’s first studio album since 2008’s Discipline, which also debuted at No. 1. Jackson previously led the list with All For You (2001), The Velvet Rope (1997), janet. (1993), Janet Jackson’s Rhythm Nation 1814 (1989) and Control (1986).

    Barbra Streisand and Janet Jackson arein rare company: along with Bruce Springsteen, the three performers are the only acts with No. 1 albums in the last four decades: ’10s, ’00s, ‘90s and ’80s.

    Unbreakable is also Jackson’s first independently distributed album, and it was released on her own Rhythm Nation label through BMG. The set also starts at No. 1 on the Independent Albums chart.

    Have you checked out Janet Jackson’s “Unbreakable?” or any of the singles from the album?

  • Rolling Stones Death: Saxophonist Bobby Keys Dies at 70

    Bobby Keys, the legendary saxophonist for The Rolling Stones, died early Tuesday at his home in Franklin, Tennessee. He was 70.

    Michael Webb, the keyboardist in Keys’ band, the Suffering Bastards, announced Keys’ death. Suffering from cirrhosis of the liver, Keys missed the Stones’ October and November tour dates in Australia and New Zealand and was replaced by veteran saxophonist Karl Denson.

    Keys began his career with Buddy Holly when he was only 16. Throughout his career, he worked with an eclectic group of musicians, which included John Lennon, B.B. King, Maroon 5, George Harrison, AC/DC, Barbra Streisand and Lynyrd Skynyrd.

    It was his highly recognizable solo on The Rolling Stones‘ 1971 classic, Brown Sugar, that helped solidify a lasting name for himself in the music industry.

    Post by Bobby Keys.

    The Rolling Stones released a statement, and posted it on Twitter, on Tuesday following the announcement of his death.

    Keith Richards, with whom Keys shares the same birthdate, Dec. 18,1943, posted his own tribute on Facebook.

    Post by Keith Richards.

    Born in Slaton, Texas, Keys found his inspiration to take up the sax in R&B sax legend King Curtis.

    Keys first encountered The Rolling Stones at a San Antonio concert while touring with Bobby Vee in 1964. He made his recording debut with the band on the 1969 album, Let It Bleed, and was featured on every subsequent album by the band through 1974’s It’s Only Rock and Roll.

    Keys was dropped by the band in 1973 because of his heavy partying and it wasn’t until the 1989’s Steel Wheels tour that he returned to the band.

    Despite giving up the majority of drugs and alcohol, Keys continued to smoke marijuana regularly.

  • Barbra Streisand Slams Tabloids, Says She is Not Getting a Divorce

    Like many celebrities, Barbra Streisand has seen her share of tabloid action. But now we learn that, unlike most celebrities, she is completely ignorant of most of what is said about her.

    Take for example this headline from The National Enquirer:

    EXCLUSIVE: STREISAND KICKS BROLIN OUT!

    The $400 million divorce of BARBRA STREISAND and JAMES BROLIN has shifted into overdrive, say sources, after she blamed him for “humiliating” her in front of some top celebrities and President Barack Obama!

    The story went on to cite “inside sources” who gave specific quotes about a fight that allegedly occurred between Streisand and Brolin at the USC Shoah Foundation Ambassador for humanity 20th anniversary dinner. After shouts and accusations and a bit of spit-slinging, “Barbra flung open the door of their house and yelled, ‘Get out!’”

    The rag went on to build a case over multiple issues that Barbra and James were headed for a “$400 million divorce.”

    But it turns out, no one told Barbra or James.

    “I’m not even aware of these. Nobody shows me, and I don’t go to the supermarkets much, though I love to go to supermarkets,” Streisand said at an event at Hearst Tower in New York.

    “I said, I need ice cream . . . So I’m in the supermarket and we’re holding hands, and a guy behind us says, ‘Oh, you’re back together?’ And I said, ‘When were we apart?’”

    Streisand says these kinds of reports are not harmless.

    “The damage is done,” she continued. “They go into the supermarket, they read this crap — excuse me, but it’s absurd. We’ve been together 18 years.”

    Streisand has learned the hard way to be careful how she goes about managing her public profile as a celebrity. Not putting up with tabloids is one thing. But in the quest for privacy, she has learned to hold on loosely. The Streisand Effect was named after her efforts to have fly-by footage of one of her mansions removed from a documentary backfired. The lawsuit she filed only made the public more aware of her private life.

  • Beats Headphones and The NFL’s Failure To Learn From The ‘Streisand Effect’

    Beats by Dre is the unarguable winner of the NFL’s decision to fine players for wearing non-sponsored headphones.

    This fact becomes more and more apparent with each passing day.

    It doesn’t matter if San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick uses tape to cover the distinct Beats logo.

    The headphones’ have enjoyed a great deal of free publicity. The kicker? Much of it is due to the NFL’s knee-jerk reaction rather than the preferences of the organization’s athletes.

    Someone really should have explained the Streisand Effect to Roger Goodall before allowing the company to give in to Bose and poorly address the Beats headphones situation.

    The Streisand Effect gets its name from the bizarre situation back in 2003 that involved Barbra Streisand, her home, and photos of it on a private beach:

    As explained in the video, it’s what happens when you try to suppress or eliminate the problem, but make it FAR worse instead.

    In the case of the NFL and Beats headphones, the company probably thought that a fine would solve the problem.

    Instead, players continue to wear Beats products, and their defiance makes the headphones THAT much more desirable to sports fans and impressionable onlookers alike.

    “Wow, Colin is willing to risk being fined THOUSANDS of dollars over Beats headphones! They must be really great and much better than Bose!”

    That is, unfortunately, the message that this entire debacle has sent out.

    The only way the NFL can get around this is to either (1) do away with fines and quietly pay Bose some sort of compensation or (2) read the writing on the wall and drop the company as a sponsor.

    Their current treatment of Beats headphones is only going to make the matter worse, not better.

    Do You Think The NFL’s Beats Headphones Ban Falls Under The Streisand Effect?

  • Lea Michele Calls New York Her Home

    Lea Michele is a fan of big family dinners, and that’s what she reportedly yearns for when life seems just a bit too crazy for her liking. The Glee star who mourned the death of boyfriend and costar Cory Monteith a year ago, lives in Los Angeles but grew up in New York. And it’s New York she heads for when the going gets tough.

    “A good dinner with my mom and dad and my big Italian family,” she said during a recent interview. “No matter what is going on in my life or in this business, that is my home.”

    When asked about her fame, Lea Michele recently said she can’t believe how far she’s come. She admits the roots to that fame lie in New York, too. She was cast in a Broadway production at the age of eight.

    “I never thought I would be on such an amazing show and living in LA, so this has so far exceeded anything I could have dreamt of,” she said. “I think it teaches you not to set limits for yourself and to go 100 per cent into whatever you believe in.”

    Barbra Steisand–a fellow native New Yorker–is Lea Michele’s role model–a rather unusual choice for such a young woman–but there’s something rather classic about Lea, so why wouldn’t she emulate one of the best?

    “I really love her. She’s always been a role model. She built her career by focusing on what makes her unique–it’s how she became so successful,” Lea said recently. “I want to introduce that idea to this generation–that you take what makes you unique, what makes you you, and you will achieve all your dreams. It really is what has got me to where I am today.”

    Where Lea Michele is today is on the hit TV show Glee. But did you know she’s also an author?

    Lea can also add recording artist and being a former Broadway play cast member to her impressive resume.

    Yes, Lea Michele has hit some pretty serious bumps along the road of her young life, but she has bounced back. Those who admire Lea know there’s way more to come. And she knows there are those huge family dinners–just waiting to make everything alright when she needs some reassurance.

    Image via Instagram

  • Barry Gibb, Only Living Bee Gees Member, Embarks on Solo Tour

    Barry Gibb is the only remaining member of the Bee Gees and he is now embarking on his first ever solo tour. He kicked off his tour this week in Philadelphia at the Wells Fargo Center to an impressive crowd. His second stop on the tour was Boston.

    The Bee Gees consisted of Barry Gibb along with brothers Maurice and Robin. Maurice died back in 2003 and Robin passed away in 2012. Younger brother, solo artist Andy Gibb, died in 1988 at age 30. Barry Gibb is no stranger to the music world, but in a career that spanned several decades he never did much on his own. He released only one solo album–Now Voyager–and he wrote two albums for Barbra Streisand–Guilty and Guilty Pleasures.

    “It was time,” Gibb said from his home in Miami about finally going out on a solo tour.

    When asked about his apparent avoidance of much solo work throughout his career, he gave a very simple answer.

    “My heart wasn’t in making solo records with all that,” he said. “We were brothers, but if you stepped too far out, somebody would pull you back in. You couldn’t go too far on your own. There was always that conflict.”

    “Why do you think I titled that Streisand album after something guilty? Having success on my own meant having to not really talk about it. It’s not as if my brothers ever mentioned me winning a Grammy for that record with Barbra, let alone congratulate me,” he added. “There it is.”

    Gibb’s reasons for not doing solo work are sadly gone.

    “I don’t have anyone to look out for except myself,” he acknowledged.

    He did, however, express his feelings about Justin Bieber and his recent issues that have prominently graced the media in recent months, as seen in the video clip above.

    Barry Gibb was close to his brothers, both personally and professionally. Whether he was writing Bee Gees hits alone or as a group, from 1967’s New York Mining Disaster 1941, 1977’s watershed Saturday Night Fever, or 1977’s I’ve Gotta Get A Message to You, they were, as he says, a band of brothers.

    “I know I make it sound as if I wanted to get away from them, but I didn’t,” he shared. “We inspired each other in many ways.”

    As the eldest he was always looking out for his younger brothers. Barry Gibb says he is a religious man, and he also believes his brothers will square their problems in heaven.

    “Too many coincidences to think otherwise,” he said.

    He even dreams about his brothers who have passed on before him.

    “In so many of my dreams now, I see my brothers. I see Robin a lot, presently. I see his expressions. Maurice and Andy, too, but less than Robin. He and I, we were as close as we could be within those circumstances. Maybe we were worried that we would become so close, it would have to come apart,” he said.

    Barry Gibb isn’t only a compassionate man when talking about his late brothers, but is compassionate in his writing and performing of music as well. One need only listen to an old Bee Gees song like How Can You Mend A Broken Heart that dates all the way back to 1971 to see and hear this quite clearly. His audiences will no doubt hear it, too, along with a taste of whatever else the iconic singer puts out there for them during his first ever solo tour.

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