United States
Melissa has covered music, theater, pop culture, casino gambling and other features and entertainment topics for national publications and websites for more than 15 years. She hasn't gone to bed before 3 a.m. in a very long time.
Bradley Cooper is a morning guy. He's requested that this meeting on a swampy September day take place hours before most artistic types ponder rolling out of bed. And when it's Bradley Cooper, you comply, and do so happily. But this self-proclaimed early riser found something in Atlanta the previous evening that was worth sacrificing sleep.
Sharing a list of classic albums is akin to talking politics with your family. Agreements will be occasional, yelling might occur and no one's mind will be changed. But music - unlike politics - is inherently unifying.
The first rule of Cirque du Soleil: Everything is clockwork. The second rule: Don't chew gum around the costumes. It's that initial directive that is on display on a recent Thursday inside the Big Top (aka the Grand Chapiteau) at Atlantic Station, where Cirque's "Volta" is readying for a 4:30 p.m.
While Dion will wrap her insanely successful run June 8, after more than 2 million people flocked to the Colosseum to witness her live spectacle, her trailblazing will live on (and on). Artists ranging from Cher to Lady Gaga to Gwen Stefani to Bruno Mars continue to camp out on the Las Vegas Strip for extended periods.
"I cannot tell you more," he says. He's just finished sharing the skeleton plotline of "American Son," the new Broadway play currently in previews at the Booth Theatre and opening Nov. 4. And then: "It's about finding where the love is in America."
BY MELISSA RUGGIERI/AJC Music Scene [I'm on with my rock 'n' roll pal Kaedy Kiely at 97.1 The River every Wednesday at 4:50 p.m. to talk about the latest music news. Tune in to hear what's up!] If you recall the last time U2 played Atlanta - Georgia Dome, 2009 - you remember the grandiosity of their "360" tour.
Beforehand, he chatted with Underwood in the green room of Hawkins Arena on Mercer's Macon campus about a beloved site at 540 Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd. - Capricorn Studios. Perhaps recalling the dim room with its rust-colored soundproof walls and isolation booth covered in roof shingles, Allman gave Underwood some advice.
Brandon Bush's spirit animal is a dog. But not just any dog. Rowlf the Dog, the unflappable piano-playing Muppet who will joyfully break into song when needed but is otherwise content to avoid the mayhem and hang in the background, is an apt through line to Bush.
It's a stinging reality that a generation of music fans is saying a lot of goodbyes. Some, like the Pettys and the Princes, are shocking and heartbreaking. Others, like Joan Baez and KISS, are expected and understood. Like them, there is Sir Elton John.