Whitney Houston biopic in works
A feature film about Whitney Houston’s life is in the works from the screenwriter of “Bohemian Rhapsody.” The biopic is being shepherded by the Whitney Houston Estate, music producer Clive
Davis and Primary Wave Music, the partners said Wednesday.
“I Wanna Dance with Somebody” will follow Houston from obscurity to pop stardom and promises to be “frank about the price that superstardom exacted,” according to the announcement.
“From all my personal and professional experience with Whitney from her late teenage years to her tragic premature death, I know the full Whitney Houston story has not yet been told,” Davis said in a statement. He said Anthony McCarten’s script will finally reveal the “whole Whitney whose vocal genius deeply affected the world while she fiercely battled the demons that were to be her undoing.”
Houston sold over 200 million records worldwide during her 25-year career and won six Grammys, 16 Billboard Music Awards and two Emmys before her death in 2012.
McCarten, who has gotten Oscar nominations for his scripts for “The Darkest Hour” and “The Two Popes,” said in a statement that he’s grateful to be working closely with the people who knew Houston best.
Rolling Stones release new song: The Rolling Stones have unveiled a new song the band thinks is perfect for these coronavirus times. The legendary band released the four-minute, slow-burning bluesy and harmonicadriven “Living in Ghost Town” on Thursday.
“I’m a ghost/ Living in a ghost town/ You can look for me/ But I can’t be found,” sings frontman Mick Jagger, who wrote it with guitarist Keith Richards.
The band explained that the song was one they were working on before the global lockdown, and they decided to revisit it in isolation, thinking it “would resonate through the times that we’re living in right now.”
Beyoncé identifies groups receiving aid: Beyoncé is focusing her coronavirus relief efforts on organizations that are helping communities of color that have been hit hard by the coronavirus pandemic. The superstar announced Thursday that her BEYGood charity will partner with Twitter’s Jack Dorsey’s Start Small campaign to provide $6 million in relief funds to groups working to provide basic necessities in cities such as Detroit, Houston, New York and New Orleans.
Elton John postpones tour: Elton John has postponed the end of his endof-career Farewell Yellow Brick Road Tour. The tour, which began in 2018 and was planning to run for three years, is meant to signify the British pop icon’s retirement from touring.
April 24 birthdays: Actress Shirley MacLaine is 86. Actress-singer-director Barbra Streisand is 78. Actor Michael O’Keefe is 65. Comedian Cedric the Entertainer is 56. Drummer Patty Schemel is 53. Actor Rory McCann is 51. Singer Kelly Clarkson is 38. Actor Joe Keery is 28. Actor Jordan Fisher is 26.