Springsteen announces first dates for 2012 tour
Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band are set to go on the road in 2012.
Mr. Springsteen announced plans to tour the United States and Europe on his official website Sunday, the Associated Press reports.
He also wrote the band is “incredibly excited” about the new year, adding that their new music is “almost done” and “still untitled,” but with an undetermined release date.
They’ll play four shows in England next summer: June 21 in Sunderland, June 22 in Manchester, June 24 at the Isle of Wight festival and July 14 at Hard Rock Calling in London.
The European shows will run from mid-May through the end of July. They’ll also be touring in the United States. That information will be released later.
This will be the first tour for the E Street Band since saxophonist Clarence Clemons died in June from complications of a stroke.
Mr. Springsteen’s last tour was the “Working on a Dream” tour, which ended in 2009.
Bee Gees’ Robin Gibb battling liver cancer
Robin Gibb, singer and musician with legendary band the Bee Gees, is being treated for liver cancer after being diagnosed with the disease several months ago, Britain’s Sunday Mirror reported.
The 61-year-old singer, whose frail appearance has caused concern among Britain’s media, was hospitalized last week after making an emergency call from his house in Thame, southwest England, according to Agence France-Presse.
Mr. Gibb’s twin brother, Maurice, died in 2003 from complications resulting from a twisted intestine, and younger brother Andy died in 1988 following a battle against cocaine addiction.
Older brother and fellow Bee Gee Barry has returned to Britain along with 91-year-old mother Barbara, according to the report.
The British-born brothers scaled the heights of the pop world in the 1970s with disco hits “Stayin’ Alive” and “Night Fever,” and notched more than 200 million record sales during a career that has spanned seven decades.
Mr. Gibb was forced to cancel several appointments last month, including one with British Prime Minister David Cameron, after he was hospitalized with severe stomach pains.
His spokesman said the family did not want to comment on the reports.
Mila Kunis keeps promise to attend Marine Corps Ball
Film star Mila Kunis has made good on her promise to a Marine who had been serving in Afghanistan.
Miss Kunis and Marine Sgt. Scott Moore attended the Marine Corps Ball on Friday in Greenville, N.C., the Associated Press reports. The annual event marks the founding of the Marines in 1775.
Back in July, the data systems technician asked Miss Kunis to be his date for the ball in a YouTube video. He was deployed to Afghanistan at the time.
Miss Kunis accepted his invitation soon after the video was posted.
The actress’s appearance comes just days after “Friends With Benefits” co-star Justin Timberlake attended a Marine Corps Ball with Cpl. Kelsey De Santis in Richmond.
Sylvester Stallone prepping musical version of ’Rocky’
Sylvester Stallone has teamed up with heavyweight boxers Wladimir and Vitali Klitschko for what is billed as the world’s first musical version of “Rocky,” producers said Monday.
Mr. Stallone said he had always envisaged creating a musical version of the 1976 Oscar-winning rags-to-riches story of Rocky Balboa, a down-and-out amateur boxer who bravely fights the world champion in a bruising and bloody bout.
“I always had the idea of ’Rocky’ as a musical. At the end of the day, ’Rocky’ is a love story and he could never have reached the final bell without Adrian,” Balboa’s girlfriend in the film, Mr. Stallone said.
“To see this story coming to life on a musical stage makes me proud. And it would make Rocky proud,” added Mr. Stallone, whose Hollywood career was launched by the film.
The musical will incorporate many of the tub-thumping hits from the film, said producers Stage Entertainment, including “Eye of the Tiger” and “Gonna Fly Now.”
The Klitschko brothers will co-produce the musical along with Mr. Stallone and train the main actors in boxing, Stage Entertainment spokesman Holger Kersting told AFP.
Wladimir Klitschko said he and his brother had adored the films as boys.
“Seeing Sylvester Stallone in ’Rocky’ when we were kids actually was the reason for us to start boxing in the first place, he said.
“We are very excited to support this theatrical project.”
The musical will open in Hamburg, Germany in November 2012.
Son of Woody Allen, Mia Farrow a Rhodes Scholar
The son of actress and activist Mia Farrow and director Woody Allen has been chosen as a Rhodes Scholar.
Ronan Farrow is among 32 American students who will be awarded scholarships to study at Oxford University. It’s not the first academic distinction for Mr. Farrow, who is a special adviser to the secretary of state for global youth issues.
He had started college as a child, graduating from Bard College in 2004 when he was 15. He started Yale Law School when he was 17 and graduated in 2009.
The Rhodes scholarships provide all expenses for study at the prestigious university in England.
• Compiled from Web and wire reports.
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