Posts made in June 2021

June 17, 2021 – “I Want To Know What Love Is,” “Cold As Ice,” “Waiting For A Girl Like You,” “Hot Blooded,” “Juke Box Hero.” FOREIGNER‘s timeless anthems include ten multi-platinum albums and 16 US Billboard Top 30. Universally hailed as one of the most popular rock acts in the world, with a formidable musical arsenal that continues to propel sold-out tours and album sales, FOREIGNER now brings these hits back to concert stages across the world with the announcement of a 121-date concert tour across sixteen countries. The US leg of FOREIGNER’s world tour takes the band to 71 cities in 42 states. The 2022 leg will be announced in November. For tickets and more information, visit www.foreigneronline.com.

Says founding member, lead guitarist and FOREIGNER songwriter Mick Jones, “Live music is at the heart of what we do and I’m thrilled to be back on the road and visiting so many places over the next year. Looking forward to seeing you all out there.”

Adds FOREIGNER lead singer Kelly Hansen, “I am so looking forward to getting our feet back on stage and the crowd in front of us! I have read and heard so much about how people want to get back to live music. It’s such a part of the fabric of who we are and we can’t wait to get out there and reclaim this piece of our lives. Can’t wait to rock it out!”

Responsible for some of rock and roll’s most enduring anthems including “Feels Like The First Time,” “Urgent,” “Head Games,” “Say You Will,” “Dirty White Boy,” “Long, Long Way From Home” and the worldwide #1 hit, “I Want To Know What Love Is,” FOREIGNER still rocks the charts more than 40 years into the game with massive airplay and continued Billboard Top 200 album success. Audio and video streams of FOREIGNER’s hits are over 15 million per week.

FOREIGNER‘s founder is Songwriters Hall of Fame member Mick Jones. A visionary maestro whose stylistic songwriting, indelible guitar hooks and multi-layered talents continue to escalate FOREIGNER‘s influence and guide the band to new horizons.

FOREIGNER is: Mick Jones (guitar), Kelly Hansen (lead vocals), Jeff Pilson (bass, vocals), Michael Bluestein (keyboards, vocals), Bruce Watson (guitar, vocals), Chris Frazier (drums) and Luis Carlos Maldonado (guitar, vocals).

UPCOMING TOUR DATES:

Thursday, June 24 Ottumwa, IA – Bridge View Center
Friday, June 25 Sioux Falls, SD – Washington Pavilion
Saturday, June 26 Bismarck, ND – Bismarck Civic Center
Tuesday, June 29 Casper, WY – Casper Events Center
Wednesday, June 30 Billings, MT – MetraPark Arena
Friday, July 2 Welch, MN – Treasure Island Great Lawn
Sunday, July 4 Fort Bragg, NC – Pope Army Airfield
Tuesday, July 27 Fresno, CA – Saroyan Theatre
Wednesday, July 28 Prescott Valley, AZ – Findlay Toyota Center
Friday, July 30 West Valley, UT – Maverick Center
Saturday, July 31 Grand Junction, CO – Los Colonias Park Amphitheater
Sunday, August 1 Rio Rancho, NM – Rio Rancho Events Center
Wednesday, August 4 Lubbock, TX – Buddy Holly Hall
Thursday, August 5 Enid, OK – Stride Bank Center
Saturday, August 7 Park City, KS – Hartman Arena
Sunday, August 8 North Little Rock, AR – Simmons Bank Arena
Tuesday, August 10 West Allis, WI – Wisconsin State Fair
Wednesday, August 11 Cedar Rapids, IA – McGrath Amphitheatre
Friday, August 13 Arcadia, WI – Ashley For The Arts
Saturday, August 14 Interlochen, MI – Kresge Auditorium
Sunday, August 15 Peoria, IL – Civic Center Arena
Tuesday, August 17 Kettering, OH – Fraze Pavilion
Wednesday, August 18 Nashville, TN – Ryman Auditorium
Friday, August 20 Doswell, VA – AfterHours at Meadow Event Park
Saturday, August 21 Selbyville, DE – The Freeman Stage at Bayside
Monday, August 23 Syracuse, NY – New York State Fair
Wednesday, August 25 Bridgeport, CT – Hartford Healthcare Amphitheatre
Thursday, August 26 Webster, MA – Indian Ranch
Friday, August 27 Cohasset, MA – South Shore Music Circus
Saturday, August 28 Hyannis, MA – Cape Cod Melody Tent
Thursday, September 9 Grand Forks, ND – Alerus Center
Friday, September 10 Rapid City, SD – Rushmore Plaza Civic Center
Saturday, September 11 Butte, MT – Civic Center
Tuesday, September 14 Everett, WA – Angel of the Winds Arena
Wednesday, September 15 Nampa, ID – Ford Idaho Event Center
Thursday, September 16 Airway Heights, WA – Northern Quest Resort & Casino
Saturday, September 18 Fort Hall, ID – Fort Hall Casino
Tuesday, September 21 Bend, OR – Les Schwab Amphitheater
Wednesday, September 22 Kennewick, WA – Toyota Center
Sunday, September 26 Reno, NV – Grand Theatre at Grand Sierra Resort
Wednesday, September 29 Saratoga, CA – Mountain Winery (orchestral)
Friday, October 1 Los Angeles, CA – Greek Theatre (orchestral)
Saturday, October 2 Santa Barbara, CA – Santa Barbara Bowl (orchestral)
Monday, October 11 Detroit, MI – Fox Theatre (orchestral)
Tuesday, October 12 Youngstown, OH – Foundation Amphitheater (orchestral)
Wednesday, October 13 Grand Rapids, MI – Van Andel Arena (orchestral)
Friday, October 15 Johnson City, TN – Freedom Hall Civic Center
Sunday, October 17 Knoxville, TN – Civic Auditorium
Monday, October 18 Columbus, OH – Palace Theatre
Tuesday, October 19 Charleston, WV – Municipal Auditorium
Thursday, October 21 Reading, PA – Santander Performing Arts Center
Friday, October 22 Wilkes Barre, PA – F.M. Kirby Center
Saturday, October 23 Baltimore, MD – MECU Pavilion
Monday, October 25 Providence, RI – Performing Arts Center
Wednesday, October 27 Port Chester, NY – Capitol Theatre
Thursday, October 28 Hampton Beach, NH – Hampton Beach Casino Ballroom
Friday, October 29 New Brunswick, NJ – State Theatre
Saturday, October 30 Atlantic City, NJ – Hard Rock Live at Etess Arena
Thursday, November 4 Corbin, KY – Corbin Arena
Friday, November 5 Springfield, IL – UIS Sangamon Auditorium
Saturday, November 6 Southaven, MS – Landers Center
Monday, November 8 Savannah, GA – John Mercer Theatre
Tuesday, November 9 Augusta, GA – Bell Auditorium
Wednesday, November 10 Greenville, SC – Bon Secours Wellness Arena
Friday, November 12 Macon, GA – Macon City Auditorium
Saturday, November 13 Tupelo, MS – Bancorp South Arena
Sunday, November 14 Brandon, MS – Brandon Amphitheater
Tuesday, November 16 Huntsville, AL – Mark C. Smith Concert Hall
Wednesday, November 17 Birmingham, AL – BJCC Concert Hall
Friday, November 19 Biloxi, MS – IP Casino Resort & Spa
Saturday, November 20 Pensacola, FL – Saenger Theater

Please check www.foreigneronline.com for updates and more information.

www.facebook.com/Foreigner
www.twitter.com/ForeignerMusic
www.instagram.com/foreignerlive
www.youtube.com/user/FWebTeam

All Four Episodes Will Be Available to SHOWTIME Subscribers on Premiere Date Sunday, August 8

LOS ANGELES – June 16, 2021 – SHOWTIME announced it will air UFO, a four-part docu-series from J.J. Abrams’ Bad Robot and Glen Zipper exploring our fascination with unidentified flying objects, and what clandestine influence the American government, lucrative private companies and the military may have in shielding the truth behind extraterrestrial phenomena to further their own agendas. Directed by Mark Monroe (Icarus) and Paul Crowder (Riding Giants), the series explores unsettling theories of a subject that recently reached national headlines, and has historically been the focus of powerful politicians and CEOs, while average citizens pursuing the very same truth have been ridiculed and ostracized. The series is a co-production by Bad Robot and Zipper Bros Films. SHOWTIME will release all four episodes of the new series UFO to its subscribers at midnight on Sunday, August 8, prior to its on-air debut that night at 9 p.m. ET/PT.

Ignited by the bombshell New York Times story in 2017 revealing that the Pentagon had been secretly tracking UFOs for years, the series examines the history of the phenomenon through cultural and political touchpoints, including shocking testimony from eyewitnesses across the country. As the conversation grows more bizarre and reaches the mainstream by virtue of credible investigations into alien encounters, UFO confronts the most enigmatic questions of all: Why do we believe what we believe? And what is the elusive truth beyond this decades long mystery?

UFO is executive produced by J.J. Abrams, Glen Zipper, Mark Monroe and Sean Stuart along with Ben Stephenson and Rachel Rusch Rich from Bad Robot. The series is co-executive produced by Kevin Lincoln and produced by Maren Domzalski and Paul McGuire.

Showtime Networks Inc. (SNI), a wholly owned subsidiary of ViacomCBS Inc., owns and operates the premium service SHOWTIME®, which features critically acclaimed original series, provocative documentaries, box-office hit films, comedy and music specials and hard-hitting sports. SHOWTIME is available as a stand-alone streaming service across all major streaming devices and Showtime.com, as well as via cable, DBS, telco and streaming video providers. SNI also operates the premium services THE MOVIE CHANNEL™ and FLIX®, as well as on demand versions of all three brands. SNI markets and distributes sports and entertainment events for exhibition to subscribers on a pay-per-view basis through SHOWTIME PPV®. For more information, go to www.SHO.com.

National Geographic Documentary Films, in partnership with acclaimed filmmaker Dawn Porter (“The Way I See It,” “Good Trouble: John Lewis”) and Trailblazer Studios, is set to premiere the feature documentary that sheds new light on a century-old period of intense racial conflict. RISE AGAIN: TULSA AND THE RED SUMMERcomes one hundred years from the two-day Tulsa Massacre in 1921 that led to the murder of hundreds of Black people and left thousands homeless and displaced. The film will premiere on National Geographic on Friday, June 18, at 9 p.m. ET/PT and will air globally in 172 countries and 43 languages. It will also be available to stream on Hulu the same day, commemorating Juneteenth, when the last enslaved Black people in Texas received news of their emancipation.

Award-winning Washington Post journalist and Oklahoma native DeNeen Brown is at the heart of the film, reporting on the search for a mass grave in her native state. Digging into the events that led to one of the worst episodes of racial violence in America’s history, Brown reveals insights into racial conflict incidents that erupted in the early 20thcentury. Between 1917 and 1923, when Jim Crow laws were at their height and the Klu Klux Klan was resurging across the nation, scores of Black homes and businesses were razed, and hundreds of Black people were lynched and massacred with impunity.

Brown’s reporting highlights the revived call for justice for victims and survivors. Following a 2018 investigative report, Brown explores the current new anti-racism movement in the context of the Tulsa Massacre and the Red Summer. With access to family members of those killed, city officials, archeologists, and historians, the film reveals the decades-long effort by descendants and community members to find victims’ bodies and unearth truths that have been suppressed for nearly a century. RISE AGAIN: TULSA AND THE RED SUMMER also untangles the role the media played in covering events at the time in order to reveal the full extent of the nation’s buried past.

Documentary Feature About Comedy Legend and Activist, Executive Produced by Kevin Hart and Lena Waithe,

Will Premiere on Sunday, July 4 at 9 PM ET/PT

LOS ANGELES – June 9, 2021 – SHOWTIME Documentary Films today announced that it has acquired worldwide rights to THE ONE AND ONLY DICK GREGORY, the directorial debut from producer Andre Gaines (The Lady and The Dale, Bill Nye: Science Guy). The documentary feature unpacks the career of Dick Gregory, the activist, pop-culture icon and thought leader who changed the lives of millions across the world through constant disruption and awareness. The film will have a World Premiere at the Tribeca Film Festival on Saturday, June 19 as part of the festival’s inaugural Juneteenth programming slate, ahead of the SHOWTIME premiere on Sunday, July 4 at 9 p.m. ET/PT. The announcement was made by Vinnie Malhotra, Executive Vice President, Nonfiction Programming, Showtime Networks Inc.

To watch and share the first look clip, visit: https://youtu.be/QZjZ1VbhgvM.

“There is no more important time than now to revisit the life of Dick Gregory,” said Malhotra. “His fearless voice rose to the challenges of his time, calling upon Americans to question their beliefs, in an era where you risked your livelihood – maybe even your life – to speak out. Though a comedic genius of his generation, comedy turned out just to be the beginning of one of the most unique and impactful journeys of any person we’ve seen. Andre and team have done a remarkable job in showing just how Gregory walked the walk and talked the talk in a way we have rarely seen anyone else do.”

Gregory inspired a generation through on-the-ground activism, an untiring desire to help and his influential comedy. Featuring archival footage of his early career as a comedian, the film is bookended with Gregory’s own voice just before his death in 2017, reflecting on the impact of his life on the world as a self-described “agitator.” Dave Chappelle, Chris Rock, Kevin Hart, Wanda Sykes, W. Kamau Bell and others discuss Gregory’s paradigm-shifting significance on the art of comedy and culture. The film features original music by Black Thought of the Grammy® award winning hip-hop band The Roots.

“Dick Gregory is as present to me now as he was when I first started filming him six years ago – a trivial length of time when compared to the nearly six decades that this one man so greatly influenced American history, comedy, activism, and nutrition,” said Gaines. “He emptied himself completely for the movement, and while the enormity of his sacrifices are rarely acknowledged, he gave every artist a master class for what it truly means to both entertain and educate. Knowing Dick Gregory was a transformative experience that not only influenced the making of this film, but me as a man. Vinnie and the team at SHOWTIME have been incredible partners to help bring this timely story to the world, and I cannot wait for Dick Gregory to finally get his due.”

Gaines founded and runs Cinemation Studios which is based in Los Angeles. His producing credits include the four-part documentary series, The Lady and the Dale, the remake of Stephen King’s Children of the Corn, Spike Lee’s Da Sweet Blood of Jesus, and the award-winning film Bill Nye: Science Guy.

THE ONE AND ONLY DICK GREGORY is a Cinemation Studios production, written and directed by Gaines, and produced by Gaines and Valerie Edwards. The film is executive produced by Kevin Hart and Bryan Smiley for Hartbeat Productions, Lena Waithe and Rishi Rajani for Hillman Grad Productions, and Christian Gregory, Chad Troutwine and Matt Rachamkin.

Showtime Networks Inc. (SNI), a wholly owned subsidiary of ViacomCBS Inc., owns and operates the premium service SHOWTIME®, which features critically acclaimed original series, provocative documentaries, box-office hit films, comedy and music specials and hard-hitting sports. SHOWTIME is available as a stand-alone streaming service across all major streaming devices and Showtime.com, as well as via cable, DBS, telco and streaming video providers. SNI also operates the premium services THE MOVIE CHANNEL™ and FLIX®, as well as on demand versions of all three brands. SNI markets and distributes sports and entertainment events for exhibition to subscribers on a pay-per-view basis through SHOWTIME PPV®. For more information, go to www.SHO.com.

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Kurtis Blow is proud to announce the minting of Hip-Hop’s first-ever certified Gold Record as an NFT.

A digital rendering of the original RIAA-certified Gold Record plaque for ‘The Breaks,’ Blow’s landmark 1980 song that defined the Hip Hop genre, will be released as a collection of 41 non-fungible tokens, bringing one of rap’s greatest and most enduring moments into the NFT space.

Always on the cutting edge of artistic innovation, Kurtis laid the groundwork for Hip-Hop to dominate pop culture; he was the first rapper signed to a major label, he filmed the first Hip-Hop commercial (with Sprite), and was the first artist to bring Rap to Europe (on tour with The Clash). The pioneer has now added blockchain-based art to his vast career that includes multiple top-10 hits on Billboard’s R&B chart, and close collaborations with Whitney Houston, Run DMC, Bob Dylan, and Russell Simmons. The party hit was instrumental in breaking rap into mainstream conversation; now that influential moment in music history will be forever preserved on the blockchain, a budding entertainment and business space itself.

“So many firsts are accredited to my career and legacy. ‘The Breaks’ becoming certified may have been the biggest moment.” – Kurtis Blow.

A ubiquitous song in music history, “The Breaks” was the first RIAA-Certified Gold rap song, and it is now the first classic Hip Hop NFT collection. These extremely limited NFTs were designed by Kurtis’ son, Michael Walker, a Stanford graduate and multimedia artist. The release is a collaboration with Godspeed Labs and Launch featuring a near-perfect rendering of the gold record plaque commemorating the 1980 single from Blow’s debut album. 41 numbered editions will be sold over a 41-hour auction from 9 AM PT on Friday, June 4 through 2 AM PT on Sunday, June 6, to represent the 41 years of Hip Hop innovation that followed the song’s release.

“My generation doesn’t always acknowledge authentic Hip-Hop history, and older generations aren’t into the NFT space. It’s an honor to be able to bridge the gap with my father.” – Michael Walker

The song explores many breaks – musical breaks, work breaks, losing breaks, and winning breaks, the latter two of which can be seen in a major way over the past year; 2020 was a tough break for most, yet it catalyzed a community-supported wave toward breaking the old paradigm of centralized power and finance that can be seen in the new, decentralized business world of blockchain, crypto, and NFTs. These new types of breaks, which give power and agency to the under-represented, are breaks to steward in 2021 and beyond.

Fans can own a piece of history in the Kurtis Blow pantheon by bidding on the NFT artwork. The auction will begin Friday, June 4th at 9 AM PT with 41 editions of the NFT dropping at a starting bid of 0.41 ETH on OpenSea.

About Launch
Launch is a livestreaming music membership service-producing unique consumer offerings including online concerts and music programming featuring emergent artists and veteran talent from around the world.

About Godspeed Labs
Godspeed Labs is a mixed reality design lab specializing in art installations, digital media, and music. Founded by Michael Walker, a Stanford graduate and the son of Kurtis Blow.