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Smokey Robinson celebrates the release of his new album, “What The World Needs Now,” with two specials exclusively for Smokey’s Soul Town.

First, Smokey takes you through each song on the album during his track-by-track special, sharing the stories and inspiration behind the music.

Track-by-Track SpecialListen on the App

Listen on the App

Then, Smokey is joined by Stevie Van Zandt and a live audience in the SiriusXM New York City studios for an album release party.

Smokey’s Album Release PartyListen on the App

Listen on the App

“It’s actually an inspirational album, and I hope it inspires people to do good things and to feel good and to do good to others,” Smokey said. “That’s what our purpose was for doing this album.”

Smokey Robinson’s new album, “What The World Needs Now,” is produced by Gaither Music and Primary Wave and available now on vinyl,...

Songs by James Taylor will serve as the backbone for a new musical, which is in the early development stages. On Monday, it was announced that Fire and Rain — featuring Taylor’s music — will feature an original story written by Tracy Letts and a play directed by David Cromer.

The production’s timeline has yet to be announced but Gail Berman, Sam Feldman, Michael Gorfaine, and Jimmy Nederlander are producing the musical alongside Frank Marshall and Jere Harris, according to Variety.

The working title of the musical is based on...

A new musical featuring the songs of James Taylor is in development.

The project, entitled Fire & Rain, will feature an original story written by Tony and Pulitzer Prize winner Tracy Letts and direction by Tony Award winner David Cromer.

The show is in early development stages and a production timeline has not yet been announced. Gail Berman, Sam Feldman, Michael Gorfaine and Broadway theater owner Jimmy Nederlander are producing in association with Frank Marshall and Jere Harris.

The title for the show comes from Taylor’s well-known song, “Fire and Rain,” which was released in 1970 on his second album, Sweet Baby James, and reached number three on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. The six-time Grammy Award winning singer and songwriter, whose hit songs include “You’ve Got a Friend” and “Sweet Baby James,” has not previously had his catalog used in a major theatrical production. However, two selections from his album...

Roberta Flack, the veteran Grammy-winning soul and R&b vocalist who recorded massive hits with “The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face” and “Killing Me Softly with His Song,” died Monday at age 88. Elaine Schock, Flack’s representative, confirmed the singer’s death from cardiac arrest. “Roberta broke boundaries and records. She was also a proud educator,” a statement read.

In 2022, Flack was diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (Als) and lost her ability to sing. The disease, her rep said at the time, “has made it impossible to sing and not easy to speak.

After performing at a North Carolina rally last week (and getting cut for time from the Democratic National Convention), James Taylor has officially endorsed the Kamala Harris-Tim Walz ticket.

“The question for us voters is whether or not we believe in the Great American Experiment: Freedom, Justice and Democracy. One citizen-One Vote, the Rule of Law…,” Taylor wrote on social media Wednesday.

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A post shared by James Taylor (@jamestaylor_com)

“I mean no disrespect to supporters of Mr. Trump, but to me the...

Musician James Taylor has kicked off his 2024 tour.

The tour started in Philadelphia and continues through mid-September, where it will conclude in Virginia on Sept. 15.

Taylor was scheduled to perform at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago on August 19 in support of the 2024 presidential campaign of Kamala Harris and Tim Walz. He was set to follow performances by fellow artists Mickey Guyton and Jason Isbell, but he was ultimately unable to take the stage due to time limitations.

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In an Instagram statement, Taylor wrote, “Sorry to disappoint. But it was a great and inspirational, quintessentially American moment. We were honored to be there.” Just hours before Taylor’s announcement on Instagram, White House correspondent Christian Datoc shared the DNC’s explanation for the last-minute cancellation on X.

The DNC wrote, “Because of the...

Stephen Colbert is one of the most high-profile and proud Catholics in show business, and it appears that hasn’t gone unnoticed by the Vatican and those associated with it.

Deadline reports that Colbert will narrate Pope Francis’ six-hour audiobook Life: My Story Through History, set to release March 19 via HarperAudio, alongside Franciscan friar and priest John Quigley. The audiobook release coincides with HarperOne’s publication of the Pope’s autobiography.

Colbert has spoken publicly about his Catholic faith on his programs and in countless interviews over the years. He has expressed a deep respect for Pope Francis in the past.

In September 2015, Colbert appealed to the Pope to make a Late Show appearance during his New York trip, even offering His Holiness a custom chair.

A week later, upon the Pope’s U.S. arrival, he hosted a special “Pope Show” edition of The Late Show, where, among other things,...

Johnnie To, Watanabe Hirobumi and Jang Sun-woo set to attend.

The Far East Film Festival (Feff), held in the Italian town of Udine, has revealed the full line-up for its landmark 25th edition, which is set to include appearances from filmmakers Johnnie To, Watanabe Hirobumi and Jang Sun-woo.

Running April 21-29, the festival will open with a double bill: He Shuming’s Ajoomma, the first co-production between Singapore and South Korea; and black comedy Bad Education by Taiwan’s Giddens Ko. It will close with Zhang Yimou’s Chinese blockbuster Full River Red.

The festival will screen 78 Asian films from 14 countries,...

Italy’s Far East Film Festival unveiled a power-packed lineup Wednesday for its 25th anniversary edition. The largest cinema event in Europe specializing in popular moviemaking from Asia, Feff will open April 21 with an inspired double bill, He Shuming’s hit Korea-Singapore co-production Ajoomma followed by first-time Taiwanese director Kai Ko’s black comedy Bad Education. And on April 29, the curtain will come down on the festival with the Italy premiere of legendary Chinese director Zhang Yimou’s latest blockbuster, Full River Red. Between those dates, the festival will screen 78 Asian films from 14 countries, including nine world premieres.

The organizers of Feff, founded in 1999 in the picturesque northern Italian city of Udine by festival pioneers Sabrina Baracetti and Thomas Bertacche, say the 2023 selection “aims to showcase the immense complexity of Asia more than ever before.” The lineup indeed presents a compelling snapshot of a wildly diverse content’s commercial cinema in flux.

The Far East Film Festival in Italy’s Udine will open with a double bill of He Shuming’s “Ajoomma” and Kai Ko’s “Bad Education.” It will close with Zhang Yimou’s blockbuster period epic “Full River Red.”

In between, the festival will showcase a stunning 78-title array of commercial and art-house films from across East Asia. Operating according to a motto of diversity –implying cultural asymmetries and artistic multiplicities – the 25th edition of the festival will run April 21-29.

Organizers say that their selection “shows in real time how the cinemas of East and Southeast Asia have re-emerged from the gruelling period of the pandemic, not all in the same way and not all with the same results.”

They point to the impact of Covid, politics and emigration from Hong Kong, and the recent resurgence of Cantonese-language cinema.

Similarly, Udine’s organizers note the recent box office struggles of South Korean cinema,...

James Taylor has announced a 16-concert tour that includes a Las Vegas residency and his annual Tanglewood Music Festival in Lenox, Massachusetts.

Prior to the start of the tour, Taylor and his All-Star Band will play one show at Fort Lauderdale, Florida’s Broward Center Au Rene on February 25.

The singer’s official 2023 tour will begin with consecutive concerts in Woodinville, Washington on May 25 and 26.

From there, Taylor will visit Santa Barbara (May 31), Atlanta (June 16), Cincinnati (June 21), Milwaukee (June 24) and Philadelphia (July 1).

Outside of touring, the singer-songwriter has also been keeping busy making new music. His last full-length album, American Standard, was released in 2020 and includes covers of classics like “Moon River” and “Pennies From Heaven”.

Taylor originally broke through in 1970 with his No. 3 single “Fire and Rain.” He had his first No. 1 hit in 1971 with his version of “You’ve Got a Friend,” which was written by Carole King that same year.