Music

Rona Newton-John, the older sister of Olivia Newton-John, has lost her battle with brain cancer. 70-year old Rona was married to Grease star Jeff Conaway from 1980 to 1985. Jeff played Kenickie in Grease. He died in 2011. They have a son, racing car driver Emerson. After her marriage to Jeff she married Brian Goldsmith. Chantoozies star Tottie Goldsmith is her daughter. Rona’s condition turned bad in April causing her sister Olivia to cancel her upcoming dates in Las Vegas. “As a cancer ‘thriver’ myself, as many people are, I am very aware of the importance of love, support and family during this journey she is about to begin,” Olivia said in a statement last month. “I want to thank everyone in advance for respecting our privacy during this difficult time.” Rona had many acting roles including appearances on The Benny Hill Show and the British television series Gerry Anderson’s UFO. In 1972 Olivia and Rona recorded the duet together Just Us Two. Rona and Olivia’s grandfather is Max Born, the Nobel prize-winner. Rona was diagnosed with brain cancer in last month, April 2013.

As the slightly dodgy-seeming but hey-sure-we’ll-trust-it website Cliff View Pilot (via VladTV) reports, the sons of Sugar Hill Records co-founders Sylvia and Joe Robinson have been found guilty of tax evasion. So many people getting screwed by the IRS lately — we’re gonna have to start paying those things, too! Two sons of the Sugar Hill Records co-founders Sylvia and Joe Robinson were sentenced today to 400 hours of community service and three months house arrest for failing to file federal tax returns for several years, which prosecutors said cost the government nearly $1.3 million they should have paid on royalties from recordings by the Sugar Hill Gang, Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five, The Treacherous Three and others. U.S. Magistrate Judge Mark Falk fined 47-year-old Leland Robinson $8,000 and his 51-year-old brother, Joseph Robinson Jr., $16,000. A third brother, 42-year-old Rhondo Robinson — also of Englewood — has yet to be sentenced. Read and comment. From thedailyswarm.com.

During the two-weeks festival by Intakt Records at John Zorn’s club The Stone in New York’s East Village, Elliott Sharp (guitar), Melvin Gibb (bass) and Lucas Niggli (drums) performed for the first time. Three musicians with diverse backgrounds and biographies, but a very clear common goal: instant composing with hypertension, where Elliott Sharp’s blues, Melvin Gibb’s funk and Lucas Niggli’s drive found perfectly together to celebrate an unique music with no borders, lots of colours and massiv energy. On the very day after the three musicians went for to a brooklyn-studio and recorded the CD Crossing the Waters. Excursions in the adventurous tonal landscapes based on blues, rock and free music. 320 kbps | 126 MB | UL | CL | MC 1. Kunimasu Now (7:03) 2. Flow Fever (9:58) 3. Waving High (4:18) 4. Aquaphilia (7:44) 5. Transatlantic Tunnel (6:16) 6. Kayak (11:47) 7. Forellen (8:56)

The biggest stars in music lit up the stage of Las Vegas' MGM Grand Garden Arena for the Billboard Music Awards. But no one beamed brighter than...

Pussy Riot's Maria Alyokhina has been denied parole, following a similar decision for fellow incarcerated band member Nadezhda Tolokonnikova....

A Houston screening of Kanye West's "New Slaves" video was shut down last night (May 24), the Houston Chronicle reports. West planned to project the...

Okay, maybe we took it a bit far on the alliteration that time. We know Bublé likes his ganj like any good Canadian, so it’s not such a stretch that he’d take inspiration from some weird self-help book. Full 'story’ at the National Post: Apparently, the Sinatra-come-lately had his feelings smashed to such smithereens a few years ago (by then-girlfriend Emily Blunt, I’m gathering) that he had “no confidence” left, and he turned to the book The Power of Now. “I needed it,” he just told Vanity Fair. “I started reading it, and I believed in it.” Read and comment. From thedailyswarm.com.

Laura Crosta Who: Rachael Yamagata What: American singer-songwriter who has been mining topics of heartbreak and, well, heartbreak for three albums and numerous EPs over the past decade. Why: Having given her 2012 Heavyweight EP a physical release this year, she's embarking on the "Dealbreaker Heart" tour to promote it. When: Tuesday, June 4, 2013 Where: The Mod Club in Toronto (19+) Who else: Mississippi neo-soul artist Sanders Bohlke Read MoreBlog: ChromewavesRelated: CONTEST Allen Stone @ The Mod Club May 11, 2012CONTEST Aesop Rock @ The Mod Club July 30, 2012CONTEST Beth Orton @ The Mod Club September 30, 2012RT Contest! See Beth Orton at the Mod Club, September 30The Joy Formidable and Always at The Mod Club in Toronto

The Dig / "Without Your Love" The Dig elude description for me, in all the best ways. Their songs are focused and catchy, but also cinematic and sonically expansive. They make use of vocal falsetto and crunchy guitar and rumbly bass and punchy drums in equal parts, but there's far more to their recipe than that. I very much dug (hah!) their 2012 LP Midnight Flowers , and was glad they stopped in Pittsburgh on that tour. (That show at Garfield Artworks sounded amazing. Believe me. Read MoreBlog: Draw Us LinesRelated: Premiere: The Dig, Without Your LoveJake Millers Day Without Your Love Video: Idolator PremiereEllie Goulding Without Your Love (Amtrac Remix)Ellie Goulding Without Your Love (Amtrac Remix)Ellie Goulding Without Your Love (Amtrac Remix)

A West Bromwich Albion FC fan waves his rattle and cheers as he makes his way to Wembley Stadium for the FA Cup final between West Bromwich Albion and Sheffield Wednesday. Sheffield Wednesday won the match 4-2. (Photo by S. C. Smith/Topical Press Agency/Getty Images). 27th April 1935 Arsenal fans at King's Cross to catch the special trains to Huddersfield for the FA Cup semi final against Grimbsy, 21st March Read MoreBlog: clever titles are so last summerRelated: Old Photos of Vietnam from 1920-30Old Photos of Vietnam from 1920-30Old Photos of America's Children 1850-1930 (more)Old Photos of America's Children 1850-1930 (more)Old Photos of City Churches in London A Century Ago