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Music News: Tina Turner makes rare public performance at musical launch

Tina Turner and Adrienne Warren in London on Oct. 17, 2017.
Tina Turner and Adrienne Warren in London on Oct. 17, 2017.Eamonn M. McCormack/Getty Images

by Jay Gabler

October 19, 2017

Tina Turner hasn't toured in almost a decade, and rarely performs in public these days — but on Tuesday the 77-year-old icon treated a London audience to a "Proud Mary" duet with Adrienne Warren, the actor who will portray Turner in an upcoming jukebox musical. Tina, which will open in London next spring, "traces Turner's life from her humble beginnings in Nutbush, Tennessee, through her stormy marriage to Ike Turner, her hard-won independence and her ultimate emergence to become one of the top-selling female recording artists of all time," according to Billboard.

Jonny Greenwood responds to Fox News criticism of Radiohead

Radiohead guitarist Jonny Greenwood now has a Twitter bio describing himself as "strange, malnourished and sad." That's a reference to comments made recently by Fox News commenter Kat Timpf, who called the band's music "just elaborate moaning and whining over ringtone sounds."

In a segment about this year's Rock and Roll Hall of Fame nominees, Timpf continued, "I don't even like them, but the kind of guys that I like have to be three things: strange, malnourished and sad. Those guys always like Radiohead." (NME)

Did Beck inspire Pharrell's hat?

Beck is hesitant to claim credit for inspiring the now-iconic hat worn by Pharrell Williams to the 2014 Grammys, but he has shared a story about having a meeting around that time with Pharrell, who "was very drawn to my hat." When the interviewer asked if Beck could have inspired Williams's Grammys hat, Beck demurred. "I don't know. I mean, his is way bigger." (NME)

Rush plan Farewell to Kings reissue

Rush are planning a 40th anniversary reissue of their 1977 album A Farewell to Kings. The reissue, which comes out Dec. 1 in various configurations, will include a live show from 1978; covers of album tracks by Dream Theater and other artists; and "a previously unreleased instrumental studio outtake of sound effects," according to Rolling Stone.

Ariel Pink apologizes for onstage behavior

Ariel Pink, no stranger to accusations of misogyny, has apologized to fans for his onstage behavior this past Saturday night in San Francisco. "I'm tone deaf and not sensitive enough to the real plight of women these days," he tweeted. "My behavior onstage was gross and I can't defend it."

The behavior in question comes after a thread of Reddit comments described Pink as becoming aggressively physical in his affection towards his girlfriend and bandmate Charlotte Ercoli — including, according to fan accounts, getting on top of Ercoli and pinning her down. Ercoli has also apologized, in tweets and a statement to Pitchfork: "I am sorry if we made anyone uncomfortable but I can surely report it's all in good fun on our end."

Katy Perry has planet malfunction

This week's Spinal Tap moment comes courtesy of Katy Perry, who was floating above a Nashville audience on a model of the planet Saturn when the planet got stuck, forcing the pop star to jump off the planet into the crowd and then walk back to the main stage. Perry had a sense of humor about the snafu. "You'd better put your phones up," she said. "It's a YouTube moment!" (NME)