Janis

NEW YORK —  Byron Janis, a renowned American concert pianist and composer who broke barriers as a Cold War-era culture ambassador and later overcame severe arthritis that nearly robbed him of his playing abilities, has died. He was 95.Janis passed away Thursday evening at a hospital in New York City, according to his wife, Maria Cooper Janis. In a statement, she described her husband as “an exceptional human being who took his talents to their highest pinnacle.” A childhood prodigy who studied under Vladimir Horowitz,…

Alison Goldfrapp was going through a gentle, folky, acoustic period when she was invited to play a festival in the outer reaches of Norway. The journey was wonderful, she says. She and her band travelled by boat across beautiful fjords until finally they reached their destination. It turned out it was a metal festival. “We went on stage and there was one long-haired bloke in the middle of this dusty forest.”Did he enjoy the gig? She doesn’t bother answering. “Slowly people started turning up. Mostly men with beards in…

Kermit will always be top Muppet, but Disney+ series The Muppets Mayhem will shine a spotlight on the no-less-beloved members of the Electric Mayhem—the groovy house band on The Muppet Show. A new interview with the show’s co-creators gives us a good idea of what to expect from the series (although, alas, when it’ll arrive is still a mystery).As we already knew, the show will follow funky five-piece Dr. Teeth, Animal, Floyd, Janis, and Zoot as they record their first album, with the help of human characters played by…

In 2016, Jan Gaye was invited to dinner with bell hooks, the great humanist intellectual, and asked me along. Jan and I had recently collaborated on her autobiography, “After the Dance,” and hooks was eager to meet the woman who had been Marvin Gaye’s second wife.Hooks soon saw what I had already seen in our work together. Jan had a wonderful sense of humor, a radiant smile and a brilliant mind. She knew hooks’ writing and was not in the least intimidated by her presence. Within minutes, they spoke as old friends. Both…

Screenshot: The CW/YouTubeDean Winchester (The Boys’ Jensen Ackles, who is also an executive producer) returns to narrate this lengthy trailer for Supernatural prequel The Winchesters, which shows the fateful night Mary (Meg Donnelly) and John (Drake Rodger) met back in 1972 while wailing on a black-eyed beastie—and each other! Check it out:The Winchesters | Season Trailer | The CWSince we know these two will end up getting married and having kids, all that “you don’t want any part of this life” business feels like…

Janis Joplin raced onstage at the Hollywood Bowl on a September night in 1969 with the urgency of someone fleeing a burning building, her long reddish hair blowing in the wind. She slowed only to grab a microphone from its stand before resuming her dash to the lip of the stage to be as close as possible to the fans. In the most gripping moment, she later screamed (sang is too tame a word), “Come on, come on, come on, come on and take it / take another little piece of my heart now, baby.”For 40 minutes Joplin was…