He’s not the original glam rocker for nothing.
David Bowie, whose stage character the Thin White Duke pushed the envelope in rock music during the ’70s, has been crowned the musician’s musician by a British magazine, Reuters reports.
The New Musical Express conducted the yearlong “Under the Influence” survey, in which they asked hundreds of musicians who their biggest influence was. Bowie, 52, beat out the Beatles and other top rock and pop stars.
Bowie is best known for such tunes as “Space Oddity,” “Changes,” “Suffragette City,” “Let’s Dance” and “China Girl” and has been covered by several bands, including Nirvana and Oasis.
JACKSON TACKLES FAMILY ISSUES: Belief.net, a religious Web site, is scheduled to publish a story Wednesday in which pop star Michael Jackson talks about his troubled childhood and his desire to simply be a “normal little boy with an ordinary life,” Reuters reports.
In the posting, Jackson writes: “That little boy … may have had every material need filled,” but he “did not have playtime, and he did not have freedom.” He says he always loved to perform but was “rarely happy and anything but carefree.”
JOHN, MCCARTNEY FIGHT ‘FREE’ MUSIC: Singers/composers Elton John and Paul McCartney campaigned today against the phenomenon of downloadable music. The pop stars said that not only would the record company execs suffer from lost income, but also more importantly, the high-profile musicians like themselves as well as song writers who compose music for others, Reuters reports.
Internet music swapping companies such as Napster, McCartney and John say, will make up most of the $3 billion loss in sales by the year 2005. The campaign was organized by British Music Rights, an organization of composers and songwriters.
LUCIANO WHO?: Even opera stars have to carry I.D. Luciano Pavarotti was turned away at a Padua, Italy, hotel were he had reservations because he didn’t have any form of identification, Reuters reports. Guess his signature rotund shape and black beard weren’t enough to convince front desk attendants that he was Pavarotti.
“Rules are the same for everyone,” explained a duty manager at the Sheraton Hotel. “Plenty of famous people come to stay here but even they have to have I.D.” EMINEM, RADIOHEAD WIN NET AWARDS: For the first time ever, rapper Eminem and British rockers Radiohead picked up awards not for their music but for their Web sites. Radiohead won an award at the inaugural British Online Music Awards for best alternative Web site, Reuters reports.
The band’s site features news of the band, social commentary, pictures and links to anti-corporate Web sites. Eminem took home the prize for best international artist Web site. Other winners included Toploader and Supergrass. The winners were selected by online voters.
