News

Terry Manning, a noted music producer and recording engineer who worked at Memphis’ Stax Records during a transformative time in pop and R&b, died on March 25 due to a heart aneurysm. He was 77.

Famously affiliated with the Memphis studio, where many hits were recorded by the likes of Isaac Hayes, Otis Redding, Booker T. & The Mg’s, Al Green and Sam & Dave, in addition to other influential acts of the 1960s and 1970s, Manning played a key role in the production team for The Staple Singers, working on such classics as “Respect Yourself” and “I’ll Take You There” while at Stax. The melding of the Memphis soul sound with rock and pop was a trademark of his production work, which also marked early and significant commercial collaborations between white and Black musicians.

He went on to work at another iconic studio in the city, Ardent, where Big Star...

On Wednesday 1 January 2025, BBC One broadcasts Gladiators!

Episode Summary

The upcoming episode of “Gladiators” on BBC One promises to be an exciting spectacle. Titled “Gladiators Ready? Celebrities Ready?”, this special edition brings back the iconic series with a fresh twist. The Gladiators are tougher than ever, ready to challenge four brave celebrities who have stepped out of their comfort zones.

Hosts Bradley and Barney Walsh will guide the audience through this thrilling event. The celebrities joining them are Rob Beckett, Joel Dommett, Louise Minchin, and Ellie Taylor. Each of them is set to face the superhuman Gladiators in a series of demanding challenges. Viewers can expect to see plenty of action as these famous faces tackle the brutal events that the Gladiators are known for.

The episode builds up to the legendary Eliminator, where the celebrities will go head-to-head against the Gladiators in a final showdown. This intense competition will test their strength,...

The world is mourning today for the late, great Dusty Hill of Zz Top, who died Tuesday. He was a beer drinker, hell-raiser, sharp-dressed broom duster, and bassist in the same trio for more than 50 years. But Dusty was more than just a legendary bluesman — he and Zz Top helped define music videos in the early Eighties, conquering MTV with their Eliminator Trilogy. The little ol’ band from Tejas, the most proudly unfashionable rockers around, became MTV’s unlikeliest superstars ever. And they did it without cleaning up their look: beards,...

Even before they revved themselves up into synth-boosted MTV hitmakers in the Eighties, Zz Top were never an ordinary blues-rock band. After Cream and Jimi Hendrix warped electric blues into psychedelia, Zz Top pulled it back to the dusty ground of Texas, but they weren’t as straight-ahead as they seemed: The rhythm section of drummer Frank Beard and late bassist (and sometime vocalist) Dusty Hill could groove so uncannily hard that a song like “Jesus Just Left Chicago” could feel otherworldly — and then the interdimensional squall of Billy Gibbons’ lead guitar would arrive.

Dusty Hill, the longtime bassist for rock band Zz Top, has died in his sleep at home in Houston. He was 72.

His death was announced today by bandmates Billy Gibbons and Frank Beard.

“We are saddened by the news today that our Compadre, Dusty Hill, has passed away in his sleep at home in Houston, TX,” the two wrote on the band’s Instagram page. “We, along with legions of Zz Top fans around the world, will miss your steadfast presence, your good nature and enduring commitment to providing that monumental bottom to the ‘Top’. We will forever be connected to that ‘Blues Shuffle in C.'” See the post below.

Hill had suffered a hip injury that prompted his departure from the band’s recent post-lockdown concerts. The shows are thought to be the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame band’s first ever with him. It had booked...

Author Terry J. Benton has found a home for Blood Debts, a new YA fantasy trilogy described as “Dynasty with magic.” Publisher Tor Teen has acquired the rights in a six-figure deal and will begin publishing the series in winter 2023.

Blood Debts centers on two Black twins, 16-year-olds Clem and Christina. The siblings must put aside their differences to reunite their family to take back the New Orleans magic counsel their family once ruled. Along the way, they must also solve a decades-old murder that sparked the rising tensions between New Orleans’ magical and non-magical communities to avert a war....

Author Terry J. Benton has found a home for Blood Debts, a new YA fantasy trilogy described as “Dynasty with magic.” Publisher Tor Teen has acquired the rights in a six-figure deal and will begin publishing the series in winter 2023.

Blood Debts centers on two Black twins, 16-year-olds Clem and Christina. The siblings must put aside their differences to reunite their family to take back the New Orleans magic counsel their family once ruled. Along the way, they must also solve a decades-old murder that sparked the rising tensions between New Orleans’ magical and non-magical communities to avert a war....