Classic Hits News

Jon Bon Jovi's end-of-summer Labor Day party got busted up by local East Hampton cops last Saturday night (September 4th). The New York Post reported that the bash included live music and a fireworks display -- with Jack Nicholson among the 60 guests in attendance. The police came by after the New Jersey rocker broke the 11 p.m. noise curfew, but Bon Jovi "invited the officers in just to squeak out one last song."

John Lennon's killer Mark David Chapman was denied parole for the sixth time yesterday (September 7th). The New York Times reported that the New York State Division of Parole issued the denial after interviewing Chapman by teleconference at Attica Correctional Facility in upstate New York.

The Parole Board said in its ruling: "The disregard you displayed for the norms of our society and the sanctity of human life when, after careful planning, you traveled to New York for the sole purpose of killing John Lennon. Release remains inappropriate at this time and incompatible with the welfare of the community."

He will be eligible for parole once again in 2012. Chapman is now 55-years-old and is serving a 25-years-to-life sentence for murdering Lennon in front of his New York City apartment on December 8th, 1980.

Chapman, who has been turned down for parole in 2000, 2002, 2004, 2006, 2008 -- and now 2010 -- is serving his time at the maximum-security Attica Correctional Facility.

Lennon's widow Yoko Ono, who had previously written the parole board stating that she and Lennon's two sons Julian and Sean Lennon would never be safe should Chapman be released, claimed in 2008 that it would be Chapman who would face danger if paroled, telling The New York Daily News, "It's dangerous for him to come out. Not only for us, but for himself. (It's) not so much because of punishment. There are so many people out there who dislike him. It's safer for him to stay in jail."

Chapman, who had been living in Hawaii at the time of the murder, stalked Lennon for days in New York City, and even briefly met Lennon's then-five-year-old son Sean outside the apartment building the day he gunned Lennon down.

His stalking and murder of John Lennon was the subject of two independent films released in 2007, The Killing Of John Lennon and Chapter 27.

Chapter 27 got its name from a supposedly "missing" chapter from J.D. Salinger's novel A Catcher In The Rye, which Chapman was obsessed with in the months before the murder. (The book as published contains 26 chapters, and Salinger, who died in January, never implied that there was ever an extra chapter.) In an early 1990's interview while in jail, Chapman reportedly admitted to fantasizing about writing a 27th chapter of the book in Lennon's blood.

For the past 18 years, Chapman has been receiving conjugal visits with his wife Gloria Abe, through a state program called "family reunion" which allows prisoners to spend up to 44 hours at a time in an unsupervised home setting on prison property.

Jerry Hall labels Mick Jagger -- her ex-husband and the father of her four children -- a "sexual predator" in her upcoming autobiography, called My Life In Pictures. According to The Daily Mail, Hall claims in the book that, "Although I loved him and he swore undying love for me, I felt very unsure of him. I had weaned him off drugs, but they had been replaced by sex. . . (By 1979) 'Mick wasn't touring and had too much time on his hands. He started going out a lot without me. He would say he had a meeting and then call to say it was running late. He had been linked with several girls in the gossip columns, but he denied it, of course.'

Back in 2007 Hall received a $2.2 million advance for the book. Jerry Hall's My Life In Pictures is due out next month.

Jagger and Hall became romantically involved in 1977 and were married in 1990. Their marriage was annulled in 1999. They have four children together: Elizabeth, James, Georgia, and Gabriel.

Eric Clapton says that his upcoming album, titled Clapton, features his vocals mixed way down -- not to leave more room for his guitar, but because he hates the sound of his voice. Clapton told Mojo, "I hate my singing. I don't like the way I sing. It all sounds like I'm 16-years-old from Surbiton, (England). I do my best to try and feel it . . . When I watch Ray Charles sing, I think, 'That's it, that's how it's done.' He remembers thousands of songs and he sings them all as if they're the most important song he knows. He does it from the bottom of his heart, every time, every song. And that's, that's the inspiration. That's my influence."

He admits that like most people he's just not comfortable or confident as a singer: "I'm imbued with so much self-doubt about my singing, that it's very difficult for me to get to that freedom that those kinds of singers have."

Clapton says that the adulation he's received for his guitar playing throughout the years has also been embarrassing for him at times: "In terms of my guitar playing, yeah, I just thought it was all blown out of proportion. Y'know, I never saw myself as being that much better than anybody, really. I mean, I just saw myself as being another guitar player who knew a little bit about, you know, the history of it all. I didn't ever really see myself as being particularly gifted, so it was very difficult to absorb all that kind of early adulation."

Paul McCartney will be one of the recipients of the Kennedy Center Honors in December. In a prepared statement, Kennedy Center Chairman David M. Rubinstein said, "Sir Paul McCartney is one of the most influential and successful songwriters and musicians of all time, whose work has continuously altered both the creation and perception of music all over the world." McCartney was originally tapped for the award in 2002 and actually had to pass due to a previously scheduled family commitment. Paul Simon was chosen in McCartney's place. Joining McCartney as the 2010 recipients are Oprah Winfrey, country music legend Merle Haggard, choreographer Bill T. Jones, and veteran Broadway composer and lyricist Jerry Herman.

McCartney spoke about the honor, saying, "President Kennedy was such an icon for us in the '60s and his presidency was so inspiring for so many people that it is a great pleasure for this kid from Liverpool to receive this honor."

Prior to the event, The Kennedy Center Honors medallions will be presented on December 4th, the night before the gala, at a State Department dinner hosted by Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton.

The annual Honors Gala takes place on Sunday, December 5th in a star-studded celebration at the Kennedy Center Opera House, Washington. The honorees will be received by President Obama and the First Lady at a reception at the White House prior to the Gala.

The honorees and the Gala will see the 2010 honorees "watch surprise performances and receive heartfelt tributes by world-class performers and superstars, yet to be announced."

McCartney, who began playing guitar and writing songs shortly after his mother's death in 1956, admits that these days he writes primarily for himself: "I went through a period of writing for listeners, but I think that's a bad mistake -- 'cause you don't know who's really listening anyway. And you sort of write for critics, or, y'know, what you think they're gonna want. I think it's a bad idea. I think you've gotta write for yourself. I figure, if I like it, there's a chance they might. If I start to write something I think they'll like, and I don't like it -- that's fatal. So I make a point these days of satisfying myself first."

Phil Collins revealed that he's still best friends with his ex-wife -- despite being in a new relationship and her remarrying. Collins and his ex Orianne Cevey called it quits back in 2007, with Cevney walking away with a massive $37.5 million payout. Collins, who has two sons with Cevney, spoke to Hello! magazine and explained the unusually tight bond he shares with his former wife, saying, "I get on well with all three of my ex-wives, especially Orianne. She came to the studio once, while I was recording my album. That was kind of disconcerting. I wasn't sure how I should introduce her: 'Everybody, this is my ex-wife. . .' That sounds so nasty. So I said, 'She is the mother of my two sons, Nicholas and Matthew, and also my best friend.' She seemed very moved by that."

Collins has been married three times is currently involved with New York's WCBS-TV senior news anchor and reporter Dana Tyler. He went on to explain that divorce doesn't have to signal the end of a long and deep relationship: "Man, it's really true -- a shared life doesn't have to be over because you split up. I spent many years with this person. We were happy and we loved one another. But things happen. Things change. And when they do, I think it's idiotic to say, 'I hate you.'

He added: "To be very honest, Orianne and I still love each other and I don't actually know why we got divorced. After Matthew was born, we changed as a couple. We are still friends and Orianne has a new husband. That's also strange. But it's still the case that when Orianne has problems, she calls me. Or when she has an argument with her husband, she calls me. Really, she does that."

Collins told us that he pretty much rates his latest album, the '60s covers collection Goin' Back as his favorite solo album: "I love the record. It's the best record I've ever made, actually, apart from one or two little dark horses that I've done. I loved it, every minute of it. Getting a chance to sing those classic songs that I sag in school, in my school band -- it's a killer."