Cropper, Cash receive ‘stars’ – Lennon b’day

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NASHVILLE, Tenn, Oct 7, (Agencies): Country stars Miranda Lambert and the late Johnny Cash, along with famed blues musician Steve Cropper, were honored Tuesday for helping to build Music City’s reputation as a home for artists of any genre.

The three musicians, along with Gaylord Entertainment business executive E.W. “Bud” Wendell, were given stars on the Music City Walk of Fame in downtown Nashville, Tennessee.

Lambert, a two-time Grammy winner originally from Texas, said she first came to Nashville a decade ago as a contestant on the talent show “Nashville Star,” but has spent the better part of her career on the road.

When she finally took some time off of touring and moved back to Nashville, she said she felt like it was home.

“I have never felt more inspired,” Lambert said. “It was my first summer kind of off the road and I have never felt more ready to make music and learn from music and learn from musicians and songwriters.”

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Cropper got his start at Stax Records, in Memphis, Tennessee, as a guitarist with Booker T. and the M.G.s, The Mar-Keys and later as a member of the Blues Brothers with John Belushi and Dan Aykroyd.

But he was drawn by country and studio musicians, including Chet Atkins and Hank Garland, and moved about 30 years ago to Nashville, where he also has a studio.

“I have always said that Nashville has some of the greatest musicians that have ever walked on the Earth, period,” Cropper said.

Cash’s youngest brother, Tommy Cash, accepted the honor on his brother’s behalf. Wendell, an executive who helped to grow the Grand Ole Opry and Gaylord Entertainment, also was inducted.

Singer-songwriter John Mayer proudly declared himself a “Deadhead” as he defended members of the Grateful Dead in their decision to regroup after playing what was supposed to be the band’s final tour this summer.

Mayer is rehearsing in a city north of San Francisco with three of the four remaining members of the band for a fall tour that kicks off Oct. 29 in New York, months after the Dead played to devoted fans who, in some cases, paid thousands of dollars for sold-out shows in the San Francisco Bay Area and in Chicago.

“I don’t know of any Deadhead in the world who said, ‘When I paid my money, I paid to see these guys finish this,’” Mayer said in an interview Tuesday with The Associated Press in the Marin County recording studios of singer and guitarist Bob Weir.

The Grateful Dead’s Weir and percussionists Mickey Hart and Bill Kreutzmann are part of Dead & Company with Mayer. Bassist Phil Lesh is not involved, although Weir in an earlier interview did not rule out the possibility of Lesh joining an upcoming show.

Gloomy rock legends The Cure on Tuesday announced a 25-date tour of North America, dispelling persistent speculation of retirement.

The English band, who last released an album in 2008, has not performed this year and played select dates in 2014 including charity shows in London.

The Cure announced the band would play 25 shows in North America in 2016 but initially revealed only three dates — in May and June in Los Angeles, Chicago and New York’s Madison Square Garden.

Singer and guitarist Robert Smith, 56, is famous for his on-stage stamina, often playing for more than three hours with minimal interruption.

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NEW YORK: About 2,000 people turned out in New York’s Central Park Tuesday to mark John Lennon’s birthday — and to try to set a world record for the longest human chain in the shape of a peace sign.

People of all ages — entire families and even some children — joined Lennon’s widow, Yoko Ono, to celebrate just shy of what would have been his 75th birthday.

Some who attended waved signs that said “No war in Syria,” and “Make love, not war.”

But the record was not in the offing.

“Unfortunately this morning’s record attempt for the largest human peace sign was unsuccessful,” a statement from the book’s publisher said.

“While over 2,000 individuals participated, they did fall short of meeting the 5,000 person minimum requirement to set the record.”

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