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Music News: Dave Chappelle and John Mayer pay tribute to Charlie Murphy

Charlie Murphy in 2012
Charlie Murphy in 2012Christopher Polk/Getty Images

by Jay Gabler

April 13, 2017

On Wednesday night at a John Mayer concert in Columbus, Ohio, Dave Chappelle stepped onstage to pay tribute to the late Charlie Murphy. "Today, I got some terrible news," said Chappelle. "My good friend, Charlie Murphy, passed away this morning, and everybody in comedy is heartbroken." Chappelle and Mayer both reminisced about Murphy, and Mayer then played "You're Gonna Live Forever In Me" in Murphy's memory. (Rolling Stone)

Murphy, a comedian and writer who died on Wednesday at age 57, was a star of Chappelle's Show, well-known for his "True Hollywood Stories" about artists such as Prince and Rick James.

Dave Abbruzzese's still mad

Dave Abbruzzese, Pearl Jam’s drummer on the albums Vs. and Vitalogy, was upset when he got word that the only two drummers inducted with the band into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame would be their current drummer (Matt Cameron) and their founding drummer (Dave Krusen). The band later said they'd welcome all the drummers to be at the ceremony, but Abbruzzese says that wasn't the same thing as an actual invitation from the Rock Hall. In a comment posted on a YouTube video and later shared via Facebook, Abbruzzese called it "a slap in the face" to be excluded from the induction. (Stereogum)

As a contributor? A band member? A definitive contributor to the energy and power of where the band went? ...the sacrifices, the work, the physical and emotional contributions...not to mention the personal weight of carrying onthrough and after unceremonious and disrespectful way I was fired. I gave this band all I had to give every single moment I was in it. I never played for a paycheck. I never let the band down. I never let the music down. I never let the fans down... not once. I suppose that is why I am still such a point of contention.

Remembering Bob Wootton

Guitarist Bob Wootton has died of undisclosed causes at age 75. Wootton played with Johnny Cash for 30 years, joining Cash's backing band the Tennessee Three in 1968 after his predecessor Luther Perkins died in a house fire. Wootton played on most of Cash's albums after 1968, and for a time was Cash's brother-in-law; Wootton married June Carter Cash’s sister Anita Carter in 1974, though the marriage later ended in divorce. Wootton's last album, Guaranteed Cash (2012), was recorded with Minnesota band Six Mile Grove. (Rolling Stone)

Demi Lovato settles with Sleigh Bells

Pop star Demi Lovato is in the process of settling a lawsuit brought against her last year by the band Sleigh Bells, who allege that Lovato's 2015 song "Stars" sampled the 2010 Sleigh Bells track "Infinity Guitars" without permission. Lovato's producers (who are also named in the suit, and involved in the settlement) have denied any wrongdoing, and the terms of the settlement have not been publicly disclosed. (Pitchfork)

The Roots making kids' shows with Amazon

The Roots are developing not one but two children's series for Amazon. One is an animated series tentatively titled South Street Sounds, which "follows three friends growing up in the most musical of neighborhoods — where the birds tweet to a beat, every shop-keeper, pizza-maker and crossing guard dance perfectly in time and having a bad day means literally singing the blues," according to Billboard. The other show will be a live-action series, but no further details about that series have been revealed.

Daryl Hall and John Oates tell their origin story — in cartoon form

In other cartoon/band news, the story of how legendary duo Daryl Hall and John Oates met is told (briefly) in animated form in a new video released ahead of the pair's summer tour with Tears for Fears. That tour stops at the Xcel Energy Center on May 11. (Billboard) The story also appears, in longer form, in Oates's new memoir.