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The life of R&b legend Roberta Flack was celebrated at a star-studded memorial in Harlem, New York’s Abyssinian Baptist Church on Monday, March 10th. Fugees members Ms. Lauryn Hill and Wyclef Jean made a surprise appearance, performing covers of Flack’s songs.

The duo took on Flack’s classic “The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face” before delivering Fugees’ version of “Killing Me Softly with His Song,” which launched them into stardom and remains the group’s biggest hit.

As Billboard reports, Hill prefaced their performance with a remembrance of the singer. “We weren’t formally asked to do this because I think they were a little shy in asking us to attend,” she said. “So we kind of bum-rushed the service because it really wouldn’t be possible for us to just stand by and not participate.”

Calling Flack “beyond trailblazing,” Hill continued, “Like Nina Simone,...

"My head, my heart, everything was immersed in this [music] business." Giant Pictures & CNN Films have released this music documentary called Luther: Never Too Much by director Dawn Porter. It premiered at the 2024 Sundance Film Festival a year ago and was already released in US theaters in the fall. A new UK trailer has debuted for Luther: Never Too Much as well for its upcoming release in UK cinemas this month. This music doc film chronicles the life story of a vocal virtuoso. Using a wealth of rarely seen archives, iconic musician / singer Luther Vandross tells his own story with assistance from his closest friends and many musical collaborators including Mariah Carey, Dionne Warwick, Valerie Simpson and Roberta Flack. The film relives the many stunning moments of Luther’s musical career, while exploring his personal life, health struggles & weight gain, and a lifelong battle to earn the respect his music deserved.

Sony Pictures has debuted a new trailer the music documentary on the iconic singer Luther Vandross, ‘Luther: Never Too Much.’

From award-winning filmmaker Dawn Porte, the doc uses a wealth of rarely seen archives, Luther tells his own story with assistance from his closest friends and musical collaborators including Mariah Carey, Dionne Warwick, Valerie Simpson and Roberta Flack.

The film relives the many stunning moments of Vandross’ Grammy® award-winning musical career while exploring his personal life, health struggles, and a lifelong battle to earn the respect his music deserves.

Also in trailers – New trailer drops for music documentary ‘Becoming Led Zeppelin’

The doc hits UK & Irish cinemas on Thursday 30th January – only for one night.

The post Trailer swings in for music doc ‘Luther: Never Too Much” appeared first on HeyUGuys.

CNN will debut Luther: Never Too Much, Dawn Porter’s documentary about the life of Luther Vandross, on New Year’s Day.

The film will debut at 8 p.m. Et. Per CNN, the project “chronicles the story of Vandross from his formative years in Harlem, appearing in the Apollo Theater house band and the first episodes of Sesame Street, through his ascendance to become the indisputable master of the love song.” Vandross’ own voice is featured to tell the story via archival clips, along with interviews with Mariah Carey, Dionne Warwick, Valerie Simpson and Roberta Flack. Vandross died in 2005.

In a statement, Porter said, “We combed through hundreds of hours of interviews, concert footage and images to develop this one-of-a-kind portrait.” Amy Entelis, executive vice president for talent, CNN Originals and creative development, CNN Worldwide, noted that the network has had a tradition of showcasing music documentaries on New Year’s Day,...

Luther: Never Too Much, the documentary on legendary R&b singer Luther Vandross, is coming to a theater near you this fall.

Giant Pictures is on board as the theatrical distributor for the film, which premiered at Sundance Film Festival and also visited the Tribeca Festival, Hot Docs International Film Festival and Nantucket Film Festival. In 2025, Luther: Never Too Much will premiere on CNN, OWN: Oprah Winfrey Network and Max. The doc arrives nearly 20 years after the eight-time Grammy winner died in 2005 at age 54. He suffered a stroke in 2003.

“It was a joy to work on this film. Luther was a spectacularly talented performer, composer and producer. His influence was found in multiple genres, and it was a delight to discover each one,” award-winning filmmaker Dawn Porter, who directed the film, said in a statement. “It has been so much fun to see longtime fans remember why they love him,...

Dawn Porter’s documentary about R&b icon Luther Vandross, “Luther: Never Too Much,” has been acquired by CNN Films in partnership with the Oprah Winfrey Network (OWN), IndieWire can reveal exclusively.

The documentary film, which first premiered at this year’s Sundance Film Festival, will debut in 2025 first on television on CNN and OWN before it lands on Max.

The acquisition is encouraging news for CNN Films, which back in 2022 under former boss Chris Licht scaled back on its original documentary films. The brand moved away from acquisitions or commissioning projects and opted instead for newsy, quick turnaround docs produced in-house.

But CNN Films also partnered with Warner Bros. Discovery and DC Studios on this fall’s release of “Super/Man: The Christopher Reeve Story,” so the two acquisitions, both from this year’s Sundance, is a positive step forward for the documentary brand.

“Luther: Never Too Much” chronicles the story of a vocal virtuoso,...

DC/Dox has unveiled the lineup for its second annual edition, which takes place in Washington, D.C., from June 13-16. The documentary festival will kick things off with “Super/Man: The Christopher Reeve Story,” the Warner Bros. Discovery film that premiered at Sundance earlier this year.

The second edition of the fest includes 51 features and 47 shorts from 17 countries. That’s up from last year’s state of 31 features and 21 shorts from eight countries. This year’s lineup is made of 60% of filmmakers identifying as women or non-binary. Films will screen at venues including Smithsonian’s Museum of American History, the Burke Theatre at the U.S. Navy Memorial, and the National Archives.

“The films on the 2024 slate highlight the remarkable breadth and depth of documentary storytelling today,” says DC/Dox co-founder and festival director Sky Sitney. “From filmmakers around the world, these works recalibrate the past through archival footage, immerse themselves...

In 2011, Dawn Porter arrived at Hot Docs Pitch Forum in the hopes of securing funding for her first documentary feature, “Gideon’s Army.” Thirteen years later, Porter is back in Toronto with her 10th feature doc “Luther: Never Too Much,” which opened the 31st edition of Hot Docs.

The 101-minute film about the life and career of the late R&b singer Luther Vandross made its world premiere at the Sundance Film Festival in January and has since become an audience favorite on the festival circuit. In addition to serving as Hot Docs’ opening night film, the movie will also launch the Hot Doc’s Pop/ Life sidebar of films about music and musicians.

In the film, Porter chronicles Vandross’ rise from background singer to singing sensation via archival interviews with Vandross and new ones with his collaborators, including legendary recording artists Mariah Carey and Dionne Warwick. Rarely seen archives,...

Starting today (April 16), experience The Clive Davis Channel on SiriusXM, a limited-run channel honoring the iconic music producer and executive’s celebrated career and lasting impact on the music industry.

“It will truly be a unique emotional experience to relive all the musical highlights of my career,” Clive shared. “I am honestly pinching myself that this will be happening.”

The Clive Davis Channel on SiriusXM How to listen

The Clive Davis Channel is available on the SiriusXM app April 16 through May 2 and on satellite channel 79 from April 26 through May 2.

What you’ll hear

Hosted and curated by Clive Davis himself, The Clive Davis Channel airs never-before-heard stories from key moments in his career spanning six decades, along with highlights from some of music’s greatest artists and songs.

Clive shares the story about how he first heard Whitney Houston, envisioned greatness for Bruce Springsteen, found Janis Joplin’s voice to be life changing,...

In her latest documentary, Luther: Never Too Much, Dawn Porter crafts a striking profile of a singular musician. That Luther Vandross, who died in 2005, hasn’t gotten the documentary treatment until now is surprising considering his imprint on the music industry. Vandross — a true multi-hyphenate — sang, arranged and produced records for himself and other iconic artists. He worked with David Bowie, Aretha Franklin and Dionne Warwick, for example. He wasn’t just popular with fans for his velvety voice and romantic numbers; he was beloved by industry stalwarts, some of whom appear in Porter’s documentary. Even for those familiar with the “Never Too Much” crooner, Porter’s project is essential viewing.

Premiering at Sundance, Luther: Never Too Much is a trove of archival material. Porter uses rehearsal footage, concert videos, old interviews with Vandross and newer ones with his friends and family to tell the musician’s story. The...

Although it isn’t structured any differently from dozens of other cradle-to-grave documentaries about artistic luminaries, “Luther: Never Too Much” sheds light on much more than just the life and career of R&b singer Luther Vandross. Drawn largely from interview and performance footage of Vandross over his almost 40 years in entertainment, and bolstered and contextualized by retrospective talks will collaborators and confidantes, director Dawn Porter’s film exposes some uneasy truths about the music industry and the media we may now know, but whose seeming ubiquitousness at the time he was alive may be difficult to fully comprehend.

White audience members in particular may stand to learn the most about him — a fact Porter pointedly attributes to the genre siloes of radio’s heyday and cultural prejudices against black singers who weren’t thin or light-skinned enough to receive the opportunity to cross over from R&b to pop.

When award-winning filmmaker Dawn Porter — who directed the upcoming Luther Vandross documentary Luther: Never Too Much — thinks of her favorite song by the legendary singer, she selects “So Amazing,” the timeless track he wrote and produced for Dionne Warwick and later recorded himself.

But then she pauses. “I think it’s hard for me because I’m very attached to some scenes right now,” she says. Then she speaks about “Any Love,” Vandross’ autobiographical song about wanting to find the one and the sadness behind being alone. The track topped the R&b charts in the late ’80s.

“I really wanted him to be able to tell you his story as much as possible, so how do you do that with someone who’s not with us? A lot of that was thinking about the lyrics. [On] ‘Any Love,’ he was just endlessly frustrated with the absence of a romantic partner in his life,...

Snoop Dogg has deferred his induction into the 2023 Songwriters Hall of Fame. The organization made the announcement just two days before this year’s ceremony, stating that he cited “personal reasons” (via Billboard) and will instead be inducted with the class of 2024.

The Long Beach rapper isn’t the only inductee from this year’s class to withdraw from the ceremony. Sade Adu has also deferred, though the Songwriters Hall of Fame has only said she will be inducted with a future class.

Jeff Lynne, Gloria Estefan, Teddy Riley, Glen Ballard, and Liz Rose will still be inducted at the ceremony, where Tim Rice will receive the organization’s highest honor, the Johnny Mercer Award. Meanwhile, Post Malone will be honored with the Hal David Starlight Award, which was created to celebrate “gifted songwriters who are at an apex in their careers and are making a significant impact in the...

Motown icons Smokey Robinson and Berry Gordy were honored in star-studded fashion Friday at the MusiCares Persons of the Year Gala, with a tribute lineup that included Stevie Wonder, Lionel Richie, John Legend, Brandi Carlile, Chloe and Halle Bailey, Sheryl Crow, Mumford & Sons and The Temptations.

Robinson and Motown Records founder Gordy became the first duo to be recognized with the honor, which is awarded to musicians for their artistic achievement in the music industry and dedication to philanthropy. Proceeds from the gala provide support for MusiCares, the leading music charity offering health and human services to music professionals.

Taking place in downtown Los Angeles just steps away from where the Grammys will kick off on Sunday, the gala began with a silent auction before launching into a two-hour tribute concert of Robinson and Gordy’s work, starting with a medley from The Temptations that included “My Girl” and “Ain’t Too Proud To Beg.

“Dionne Warwick: Don’t Make Me Over” has its world premiere at the 2021 Toronto International Film Festival.

In the era of the “authorized documentary,” whereby filmmakers get access to a living legend in exchange for a film that’s going to be almost unfailingly glowing, it’s incumbent upon documentarians to find some element of interest to take the place of scandal, criticism or provocation.

Thankfully, the makers of “Dionne Warwick: Don’t Make Me Over” have such a fascinating subject — and who gives interviews that are equal parts warm, self-deprecating, no-nonsense and unapologetic — that the movie almost never feels like a greatest-hits informercial. Warwick is one of the all-time great vocalists, yes, but she actively intersected her career with the world outside of show business, from the civil rights movement to the early years of the AIDS epidemic.

If the film teaches viewers under the age of 35 that Warwick is more...

Naomi Ackie gives audiences a glimpse into the life of Whitney Houston in director Kasi Lemmons’ new biopic “I Wanna Dance With Somebody,” and the new film is packed with a number of Houston’s hits.

Working with movement coach Polly Bennett and vocal coaches Tangela Large, Bridgette Jackson and Denise Woods, Ackie also underwent physical transformation with the help of numerous wigs and false teeth to cover the natural gap in her two front teeth.

Ackie doesn’t sing most songs in the film — she lip syncs to Houston’s perfect tracks instead — but she mimics Houston’s style of singing with great detail. She steps in for performances by Houston that were not recorded, such as “Guide Me O Thou Great Jehovah” and “Jesus Loves Me” from her choir-singing days. Ackie also portrays a nervous Whitney who is thrust onstage by her mother, who knows Clive Davis is in attendance,...

Exclusive: CNN will be ringing in the New Year with a film on a music superstar.

CNN Films’ award-winning documentary Dionne Warwick: Don’t Make Me Over, directed by Dave Wooley and David Heilbroner, will premiere on CNN January 1, 2023 at 9 pm Et and Pt, broadcast with limited commercial interruption.

Warwick got her start singing in gospel groups with family members in New Jersey, and became a pop music sensation when she teamed with the songwriting duo of Burt Bacharach and Hal David, beginning with the 1962 song “Don’t Make Me Over.”

“Ms. Warwick’s own velvet-toned voice largely tells the story of her music and life for the film,” CNN Films noted in a release, “underscoring her creative and cultural legacies during six decades of an extraordinary career. The film explores her stunning range of musical styles and versatility.”

CNN Films added, “Her career has soared despite dramatic upheaval within a fickle industry,...

Every great singer has her own signature, and Dionne Warwick’s, in her defining period in the ’60s and ’70s, was the gorgeous wavery ethereal slowness of her vibrato. It allowed her to hit a note, sustain it with that beautiful wide tremolo, and invest it with a yearning that was pure enough to pierce you. You can hear it in her very first recording, “Don’t Make Me Over,” which is the first record she made of a song by Burt Bacharach and Hal David, or in her first sublime recording, “Anyone Who Had a Heart” (1963), where she sings a line like “Anyone who had a heart, could look at me,/And know that I lov-v-v-e you…,” the last two words ringing out like bells, tied to each other by a curlicue of emotion. Warwick didn’t just sing the notes — she lofted them into the air, so that they floated into your heart.

CNN Films has acquired the domestic rights to the music documentary about Dionne Warwick, “Dionne Warwick: Don’t Make Me Over,” which first premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival last year.

Dave Wooley produced, directed and wrote the film about the “I Say a Little Prayer” singer, and David Heilbroner also directed.

“Don’t Make Me Over,” which is named for Warwick’s first debut single, will be among the first to premiere on the upcoming streaming platform CNN+, which is launching later this spring.

Warwick became the first solo African American female artist to win a Grammy in contemporary vocal performance for 1968’s “Do You Know The Way To San Jose.” And in the film, Warwick narrates some of her own archival footage and visits or describes other locations that have been key to her life and career, from East Orange, NJ to the Apollo Theater in Harlem.

Last week, the Breast Cancer Research Foundation (Bcrf) held their Virtual Hot Pink Evening, taking their renowned Hot Pink Party to a virtual platform for the second year in a row and featuring a very special live-streamed viewing experience.

The evening raised $6 million – a record for a Bcrf virtual event, to support Bcrf’s global legion of 275 scientists pursuing high-impact breast cancer research that is helping save lives.

Hosted by Elizabeth Hurley, Global Ambassador of The Estée Lauder Companies’ Breast Cancer Campaign, the evening featured appearances by Jordana Brewster, Edie Falco, Cheryl Hines, Patti Labelle, Lisa Ling, Joan Lunden, Carolyn Murphy, Emma Myles, Amy Robach, Molly Sims and others. To hear a special message, please click here.

The evening opened with an all-star performance of “Cabaret” from the musical Cabaret, including breast cancer survivor and Bcrf Advisory Board Member Mandy Gonzalez, Tony Award-nominee Kathryn Gallagher, Bcrf ambassador Carly Hughes, Catherine Brunell,...

Timothy Graphenreed, a longtime musical and dance arranger who composed two numbers for the beloved Broadway musical The Wiz, died March 1 at New York’s Mt. Sinai Hospital. He was 68.

Graphenreed’s death was first reported today by Broadway World. A cause of death was not announced.

Last year Graphenreed completed work on an upcoming album by Broadway star and singer Lillias White. The album, titled Get Happy!, features White’s interpretations of standards, Motown hits, jazz and rock songs, and is described by Vermont’s Old Mill Recording Studio label as the “culmination of a 30-year friendship and professional collaboration between Lillias White and her musical director/accompanist, Timothy Graphenreed.” The album is dedicated to his memory.

Graphenreed provided dance arrangements for Broadway’s Leader of the Pack (1985) and Comin’ Uptown (1979), the latter a short-lived retelling of A Christmas Carol with a Black cast headed by Gregory Hines as Scrooge.

Hey, "NCIS: Los Angeles" fans. Unfortunately, we have a bit of bad news for you again in this article. It turns out that your favorite show is due for one more break before season 10 wraps up. That break is going to take place next Sunday night,April 21, 2019. CBS will not be airing the next, new episode 21 on April 21, 2019. Instead, they are planning to air it on Sunday night, April 28, 2019. So, be sure to mark down that very important date on your TV show calendars. So, what will CBS be airing instead of NCIS: Los Angeles next Sunday night, April 21, 2019? Well, according to the TV Guide listings, they will be airing a special Grammy show called, "Motown 60: A Grammy Celebration." The short description for this special reads like this, "Hosted by Cedric the Entertainer and Grammy winner Smokey Robinson, the tribute to the iconic sound that changed America will feature Boyz II Men,...

Teddy Pendergrass’ voice was astounding, muscular enough to lift cars and crack granite. When paired with the elite writers, arrangers and instrumentalists at Philadelphia International Records in the Seventies, the resulting music was often magnificent. Popular, too: Pendergrass released a platinum-certified LP every year between 1977 and 1980.

But thanks to the partially segregated way that music is made, marketed and consumed in America, the pop mainstream treated Pendergrass, who died in 2010, with relative indifference. He only cracked the Top 40 once, and he went unrecognized by most critics at the time — you...

The Recording Academy will honor artists from a wide variety of genres next spring when it hands out Lifetime Achievement Grammys at a special ceremony. It will recognize Black Sabbath, George Clinton and Parliament-Funkadelic, jazz singer Billy Eckstine, Donny Hathaway, Julio Iglesias, Sam and Dave and Dionne Warwick, according to Variety, in Los Angeles on May 11th.

Other honorees include producer Lou Adler, artists and songwriters Ashford and Simpson and songwriter Johnny Mandel, who will all receive Trustees Awards. The late Saul Walker, who innovated microphone preamps and other recording technologies,...

The Broadway company of the Tony Award-winning, record-breaking hit musical Chicago, which recently celebrated its 21st anniversary, just welcomed legendary singer-songwriter Valerie Simpson making her Broadway debut in the role of 'Matron 'Mama' Morton'at the Ambassador Theatre 219 W. 49th St.. Joining Ms. Simpson is Chaz Lamar Shepherd original Broadway production of The Color Purple Dreamgirls national tour as 'Billy Flynn.'...

The Broadway company of the Tony Award-winning, record-breaking hit musical Chicago, which recently celebrated its 21st anniversary, will welcome legendary singer-songwriter Valerie Simpson making her Broadway debut in the role of Matron Mama Morton starting Monday, March 12, 2018 at the Ambassador Theatre 219 W. 49th St.. Joining Ms. Simpson is Chaz Lamar Shepherd original Broadway production of The Color Purple Dreamgirls national tour as Billy Flynn.

The mountain Marvin Gaye, Tammi Terrell, and later Diana Ross, sang about in "Ain't No Mountain High Enough" was Not inspired by a mountain at all ... according to the legend who wrote it. Valerie Simpson co-penned the 1967 hit song for Motown offshoot Tamla Records. Marvin and Tammi went Top 20 with it, and Diana Ross made it to #1 in 1970. So, when we got Valerie in NYC ... we had to know what she had in mind when...

Paul Shaffer and the World's Most Dangerous Band returned to the Ed Sullivan Theater Monday for a performance of Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell's "Ain't No Mountain High Enough" on The Late Show With Stephen Colbert. David Letterman's former bandleader partnered with Colbert's in-house outfit, Jon Batiste and Stay Human, and split vocal duties with R&B star Valerie Simpson.

The two Late Show bands combined to create a massive orchestral pop sound filled with sweeping strings, disco guitars and jazzy horns. Meanwhile, Shaffer's growl served as a...

As is clear from his stint slinging drinks at the opening of his son’s bar in Brooklyn, Bill Murray would do anything to help out his loved ones. For his latest experiment, the beloved actor and comedian recorded a vocal track on a tenaciously upbeat song from Paul Shaffer’s new album, released today with a cute animated music video.

Shaffer is best known to television fans as Dave Letterman’s music director and sidekick on “The Late Show,” though that position is has been held by New Orleans musician Jon Batiste since Stephen Colbert took over. Reverting to their earlier name, Paul Shaffer & The World’s Most Dangerous Band, Shaffer and his fellow “Late Show” musicians are about to tour a new album, which features an eclectic mix of guest vocalists.

Read More: Bill Murray and Amy Ryan? Our Dream Casts for the Inevitable American Remake of ‘Toni Erdmann’

In addition to Murray,...

This month a new music-themed talk show will debut that flips the script and lets musicians choose their own interviewer. Speakeasy's first class includes Roger Waters, who chose TV journalist Bill Weir; John Mellencamp, who picked Rolling Stone founder Jann S. Wenner; Carlos Santana, who selected the "King of Calypso" Harry Belafonte; Nile Rodgers, who opted for singer Valerie Simpson; and Rush's Geddy Lee, who requested Pulitzer Prize-winning author Michael Chabon. Since the show is a public television series, broadcast times and channels vary (more details below). 

The producers...

In 2009, after more than six years of effort, Proteus Spann was finally nearing his goal of producing a Broadway musical and a movie based on books by his friend E. Lynn Harris, author of ten consecutive New York Times bestsellers – including the critically acclaimed 1994 novel Invisible Life – that depicted the struggles of closeted African American gay men. With the movie on track to be produced by Spann’s E2 Productions and Tracey Edmonds’ Edmonds Entertainment and a score for the musical completed by Motown legends Ashford and Simpson, Harris came to Los Angeles for a celebratory dinner

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No surprise that over the years I’ve done a lot of interviews with filmmakers. But one thing that I’ve rarely done, is interview a first time filmmaker. The opportunities don’t come around that often, which is one of the many things that makes Noel Calloway so interesting.Calloway has written and directed his moving feature film Life, Love, Soul which comes out on DVD and VOD next Tuesday, Aug.27th, through Rbc Film Group.Starring Chad Coleman (Tyreese on The Walking Dead), Jamie Hector, Robbie Tate-Brickle, Egypt Sherrod, Terri J. Vaughn and Valerie Simpson, Calloway’s film is about a 17-year-old honor student struggling to cope with the sudden death of his mother in a...

PBS mixes food, science and history on Mind of a Chef.

News

Covert Affairs hunk Eion Bailey has joined the TNT pilot Trooper. He'll play the patrol partner of Mira Sorvino's state trooper character, who we hope also has an allergy to wearing shirts.

Get ready for more Dewey in the next season of Southland, C. Thomas Howell is now a series regular. I hope that means they have some solid plans for the character who, so far, has worked best in limited quantities.

The Big Bang Theory cast Bernadette's mother with Meagen Fay, who has a long resume including Malcolm in the Middle, The Bernie Mac Show and one of my obsessions, the nuclear apocalypse comedy Whoops!.

ABC has found a pal for Rebel Wilson in the comedy pilot Super Fun Night, which follows a group of nerdy friends who promise to make every Friday a "Super Fun Night.

Mr. Soul!: Ellis Haizlip and the Birth of Black Power TV, the feature length documentary profiling one of the most controversial, successful, and socially significant TV shows in Us history, is closing in on its final day of fundraising towards its $75,000 goal. The film gives a behind-the-scenes look at the 1960s/1970s series Soul, known as the "first black tonight show," as well as its longtime host and producer Ellis Haizlip. Throughout the show's six-year span, Haizlip produced over 130 shows featuring guests including Sidney Poitier, Harry Belafonte, James Baldwin, Stevie Wonder, Maya Angelou, Ashford and Simpson, The Last Poets, Nikki Giovanni, Al Green and...

-- With all the star power at the Bet Awards – Kanye West, Jay-z, Nicki Minaj, Beyonce and Samuel L. Jackson, to name a few – the most stirring moment came not from a superstar, but from the mother of one.

Whitney Houston's mother Cissy provided the emotional highlight of Sunday's ceremony as she sang "Bridge Over Troubled Water" in tribute to her late daughter, leaving audience members like Beyonce and Soulja Boy in tears.

Mariah Carey opened the tribute, and her voice wavered as she told stories about Houston. She recalled the last time she saw Houston last year, and how the two laughed and gossiped together.

"I miss my friend," Carey said. "I miss hearing her voice and laughter."

R&B singer Monica was vocally top-notch as she sang "I Love The Lord," a gospel song once sang by Houston; Brandy sang two upbeat Houston hits, "I Wanna Dance...

By Roger Friedman, ©2012

HollywoodNews.com: From an updated story I published in 1992: This Sunday, 1500 of Whitney Houston’s closest friends will gather in New Jersey for her wedding to singer Bobby Brown. The ceremony will most likely be at the New Hope Baptist Church in Newark, followed by a reception at Whitney’s house near Bernardsville. Rev. Marvin Winans, brother of singers BeBe and Cece, will perform the service. Stevie Wonder will sing, possibly his old hit “You and I” or maybe something new that he’s written for the occasion.

Scroll Down For Whitney Houston Photo Gallery In Her Memory

“Every important black person in show business will be there,” says a black journalist who’s on the Whitney watch twenty four hours a day. Freddie Jackson is bringing Toukie Smith. Ashford and Simpson will be there. Dionne Warwick of course. The ubiquitous Winans, too. (Last month, Whitney...

Aside from Kanye West and Adele landing the most Grammy nominations for 2012, the event's fourth annual prime-time special showcased some of the music industry's most celebrated artists, past and present.

Though the much anticipated event isn't scheduled to broadcast until Feb. 12, the one-hour special, which took place live at the Nokia Theatre in Los Angeles, featured performances by Rihanna, Katy Perry, the Band Perry, Sugarland, Usher, Valerie Simpson, and Lady Gaga.

Perhaps one of the evening's highlights came from a tribute to Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five's classic hit, "The Message." While original members Grandmaster Flash, Melle Mel, and Scorpio were joined by hip hop MCs Common and Lupe Fiasco, LL Cool J and Nicki Minaj enjoyed the moment from the audience. Check out how LL capped off the exciting performance in the clip above.

For a complete list of this year's nominees head over to the official Grammy site.

THR Staff

Some of the biggest names in music gathered at L.A.’s Nokia Theatre, as the nominees for the 54th annual Grammy Awards were announced. The Grammy Nominations Concert Live!! was highlighted with performances by Jason Aldean, the Band Perry, and past Grammy Award winners Lady Gaga, Ludacris, Lupe Fiasco, Sugarland and Rihanna. Valerie Simpson and Mike Stoller – both of whom lost their longtime songwriting partners this year – joined Usher for a moving tribute to songwriters. Photos: 54th annual Grammy Award Nominees Nicki Minaj, Bruno Mars, Katy Perry and Taraji P. Henson were among the evening’s presenters. LL Cool

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Getty Lady Gaga

The nominations for the 54th annual Grammy Awards are being announced tonight on CBS at 10 p.m. in a special concert featuring Lady Gaga, Sugarland, Rihanna, The Band Perry and other musical acts. Speakeasy is live-blogging the show now.

Follow along and leave your thoughts in the comments.

10:59 pm

Good night everyone!

10:56 pm

Readers, what did you think of the Album of the Year nominees?

10:55 pm

Lady Gaga and Sugarland are closing things out.

New York (AP) — Three months after losing musical and life partner Nick Ashford, Valerie Simpson acknowledges that she still has a hard time performing any of the classic songs they created together. "I get a big lump in my throat when I try to sing one of our songs right now," she said. She'll get a little help next week as Usher is set to sing from the Ashford & Simpson catalog for what promises to be a poignant moment in the usually upbeat Grammy nominations prime-time special. It will be part of a joint tribute to Ashford and Jerry...

New York -- Three months after losing musical and life partner Nick Ashford, Valerie Simpson acknowledges that she still has a hard time performing any of the classic songs they created together.

"I get a big lump in my throat when I try to sing one of our songs right now," she said.

She'll get a little help next week as Usher is set to sing from the Ashford & Simpson catalog for what promises to be a poignant moment in the usually upbeat Grammy nominations prime-time special. It will be part of a joint tribute to Ashford and Jerry Leiber, and will also feature Mike Stoller, who was Leiber's longtime writing partner.

Leiber and Stoller wrote classics such as "Hound Dog," "Jailhouse Rock," "Yakety Yak" and other hit songs that came to define early rock `n' roll. Ashford and Simpson helped define the Motown sound with hits like "Ain't No Mountain High Enough,...

We’ve just received information that the world premiere of the brand new Michael Jackson biopic, is set to take place right in here in London. To celebrate, we’ve been given this brand new clip from the movie which is introduced by legendary music Producer and friend to the Jackson family, David Gest.

Following the announcement, we get to see a new clip from the movie entitled He Went to a New Level which I’ve placed in the video embedded below. When you see the clip you just scratch the surface of the impact that he made on the world. I was astonished at some of the clips seeing just a few of the people he met.

I’ve also placed the press release that we have been sent with full details on the World Premiere which is set to take place on November 2nd 2011 at the Empire Leicester Square.

On Monday, we lost a true musical legend when Nick Ashford succumbed to throat cancer in New York City at the age of 70. He was a legendary songwriter, producer, and performer, always with his wife, Valerie Simpson, at his side. He was rescued from homelessness when he was put on staff at Motown Records, where he and his wife penned hits for Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell, Diana Ross and The Supremes, Gladys Knight and The Pips, Ray Charles, and Chaka Khan. When they broke out on their own, as Ashford & Simpson, he and Valerie dominated R&B with songs like “Found A Cure” and “Solid.” And, much like the artists who emerged in the glamorous 1970′s, Nick Ashford always looked friggin’ amazing. Always sporting a long, dark mane, striking eyes, and a sleek, chic style that matched David Bowie, Little Richard, and his own wife! Seriously, you couldn’t...

Prolific songwriter Nick Ashford of Ashford & Simpson died Monday in New York City. He was 70.

Ashford was diagnosed with throat cancer and had undergone radiation treatment, according to former publicist and longtime friend, Liz Rosenberg.

Ashford, along with wife Valerie Simpson, wrote some of Motown's most notable, soulful numbers for singers such as Diana Ross, Marvin Gaye and Chaka Khan. Monster hits such as "Ain't No Mountain High Enough," "Reach Out and Touch Somebody's Hand,...

HollywoodNews.com: I’d like to say I am shocked at the news of Nick Ashford‘s death, but he didn’t appear at the Songwriters Hall of Fame dinner this past June. His wife and songwriting partner, Valerie Simpson, was there. They were never ever apart. They were really inseparable. Someone who knew them said to me, “Something is wrong.” It seems that Nick had throat cancer, which no one knew. This is a terrible blow for Valerie and their two daughters, for their trusted aide de camp Tee Austen, and everyone who loves Ashford and Simpson.

Nick was a tall drink of water with a beautiful, sunny disposition. He was one of the most elegant and thoughtful people I’ve ever met in the music business. He and Valerie — like Leiber and Stoller, King and Goffin, Mann and Weil, Neils Diamond and Sedaka, Ellie Greenwich, Smokey Robinson, Isaac Hayes and David Porter,...

On Monday, we lost two titans of songwriting: Jerry Leiber, best known for writing with his longtime collaborator, Mike Stoller; and Nick Ashford, who co-wrote with his wife Valerie Simpson. Paul Shaffer once said, “Leiber and Stoller? There would be no rock and rock without them.” That’s a bit hyperbolic, but only a little. The music of Leiber and Ashford broke down color barriers during the ‘50s and the ‘60s. Their music united people at a time when so many other things divided us. Below are my essential eight songs that either Leiber or Ashford co-wrote. These aren’t all necessarily their...

New York - Motown star Nick Ashford, who co-wrote some of the stand-out soul songs of the 1970s and '80s, has died at age 69 after a battle with throat cancer, Us media reported Tuesday. Ashford died Monday in a New York hospital. With his wife, Valerie Simpson, the Ashford and Simpson duo wrote hits such as Ain't No Mountain High Enough, You're All I Need to Get By, Ain't Nothing Like the Real Thing, and Solid (As a Rock). Along with songwriting, the pair produced Diana Ross' first three solo albums and the 1968 hit I'm Gonna Make You Love Me.

Nick Ashford, one-half of the legendary Motown songwriting duo Ashford & Simpson that penned elegant, soulful classics for the likes of Diana Ross and Marvin Gaye and funk hits for Chaka Khan and others, died Monday at age 70, his former publicist said.Ashford, who along with wife Valerie Simpson wrote some of Motown's biggest hits, died in a New York City hospital, said publicist Liz Rosenberg, who was Ashford's longtime friend. He had been suffering from throat cancer and had undergone radiation treatment, she told The Associated Press.Though they had some of their greatest success at Motown with classics like "Ain't No Mountain High Enough" and "Reach Out And Touch Somebody's Hand" by Ross and "You're All I Need To Get By" by Gaye and Tammi Terrell, Ashford & Simpson also created anthems for others, like "I'm Every Woman" by Khan (and later remade by Whitney Houston). Ashford & Simpson also...

Nick Ashford, of the Motown songwriting duo Ashford & Simpson, has died. He was 70. Mr. Ashford partnered with wife Valerie Simpson, who he met in a Harlem church back in 1963. Together they wrote some of the best R&B songs of the last 40 years. The couple wrote songs for Chaka Khan, Diana Ross and Marvin Gaye and many others. Ashford had been fighting throat cancer and had undergone radiation treatment, his publicist told The Associated Press. Classic songs like "Ain't No Mountain High Enough" and "Reach Out And Touch Somebody's Hand" sung by Diana Ross and "You're All I Need To Get By" by Gaye and Tammi Terrell, were part of their catalog of songs. Ashford...

New York — Nick Ashford, one-half of the legendary Motown songwriting duo Ashford & Simpson that penned elegant, soulful classics for the likes of Diana Ross and Marvin Gaye and funk hits for Chaka Khan and others, died Monday at age 70, his former publicist said.

Ashford, who along with wife Valerie Simpson wrote some of Motown's biggest hits, died in a New York City hospital, said publicist Liz Rosenberg, who was Ashford's longtime friend. He had been suffering from throat cancer and had undergone radiation treatment, she told The Associated Press.

Though they had some of their greatest success at Motown with classics like "Ain't No Mountain High Enough" and "Reach Out And Touch Somebody's Hand" by Ross and "You're All I Need To Get By" by Gaye and Tammi Terrell, Ashford & Simpson also created anthems for others, like "I'm Every Woman" by Khan (and later remade by Whitney Houston). Ashford...