Singer Stevie Wonder finally receives medal at Paris ceremonies
PARIS – It’s taken nearly 30 years, but Stevie Wonder has finally received his medal for being named to France’s prestigious National Order of Arts and Letters.
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The Motown great was in the French capital to perform and be honored at France’s biggest musical awards show Saturday. Wonder said: “All this in one day, it’s almost too much for me. I’m breathless.”
Culture Minister Frederic Mitterrand riffed off several of the pop star’s hits at a Paris ceremony.
“I just called to say ‘we love you’,” the minister said, referring to the French people.
One of Mitterrand’s predecessors in 1981 named Wonder as a “Commander” in the order, its highest rank. Officials said Saturday that scheduling conflicts had delayed Wonder’s formal decoration.
Jamaica plans music museum
KINGSTON, Jamaica – Jamaica will open a music museum next year that officials say will feature rare pieces from the island’s music history, such as the sole album that the late reggae star Bob Marley produced before he gained international fame.
Artifacts will include a cassette tape in which another reggae great, Peter Tosh, jams a blues song with Mick Jagger and Keith Richards of the Rolling Stones, museum curator Herbie Miller said Sunday.
The tape was recorded in June 1977 in New York City, said Miller, who was Tosh’s former manager.
It will be placed alongside the album “Escape from Babylon” by American singer Martha Velez that Marley produced in 1976. The museum is requesting donations to help preserve Jamaica’s vibrant music history. The island’s music preservation took a hit two years ago when officials discovered that a collection of 1970s music, including original recordings by Marley and Tosh, disappeared from the archives of the former Jamaica Broadcasting Corp.
Glover stands up for workers
CLEVELAND – Actor and activist Danny Glover called on Academy Awards nominees and others in the film industry to not wear Hugo Boss suits at Sunday’s awards ceremony.
The “Lethal Weapon” star made the request in a letter on behalf of 375 Cleveland factory workers who’ll lose their jobs if the German company closes the plant next month as planned.
The Feb. 26 letter asks Hollywood to “take a small stand for American workers.” It asks Oscars attendees to wear on their lapels a pin reading: “Keep the Hugo Boss Plant Open.”
The labor union Workers United says the plant is profitable and the company is shutting it because it can make clothing more cheaply in Europe.
Paisley takes a tumble during concert encore
CHARLESTON, S.C. – Brad Paisley is recovering after he tripped on stage and took a tumble during a concert in South Carolina.
Spokeswoman Darlene Bieber said the country star was singing his encore finale — “Alcohol” — when he fell Saturday night, but he got back up and finished his show.
He was checked out at a Charleston hospital and released early Sunday.
Paisley was left with only some bad bruises, but he wrote on his Twitter page that he “hit hard. And I mean freaking hard.”
The 37-year-old kept fans updated with several tweets on the Web site, quipping that doctors told him he “was a very brave boy.”
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